Idiom Explanation:
After Liu Zen surrendered to Sima Zhao, he was placed in Luoyang㓍 to live a life of desolation, too happy to want to return to his country. It is a derogatory idiom to describe a person who arrives in a good environment and forgets his original intention.
Pronunciation:
乐不思蜀
lè bù sī shǔ
Origin:
《汉晋春秋》：“司马文王与禅宴，为之作故蜀技，旁人皆为之感怆，而禅喜笑自若…….他曰，王问禅曰：‘颇思蜀否？’禅曰：‘此间乐，不思蜀。’”
Story:
In the Three Kingdoms era, after the death of Liu Bei, his son Liu Zen assumed the throne, known as the “Later Lord of Shu”. Liu Zen was incompetent and could not revitalize the state of Shu despite the full support of Zhuge Liang and others. After the death of Zhuge Liang, Liu Zen trusted the eunuch Huang Hao, and the dynasty became more and more corrupt, and was finally destroyed by Wei. At that time, Cao Huan, the lord of Wei, was only a nominal emperor, and all the powers were in the hands of Sima Zhao. When Sima Zhao accepted Liu Chan’s surrender, he forced his family to leave Chengdu and move to Luoyang, the capital of Wei, and reprimanded Liu Chan, then made him the “Duke of Anle”, gave him a house and allocated expenses to keep him.
When Liu Zen was reprimanded by Sima Zhao, he was so scared that he was afraid he would be executed, but instead of being killed, he was honored. The next day, Liu Zen personally went to Sima Zhao’s residence to thank him for his kindness, and Sima Zhao even hosted a banquet for him. At the banquet, Wei’s songs and dances were performed first, and all the original Shu officials felt embarrassed, but only Liu Zen was happy to see them. The officials of Shu shed tears, but Liu Chan laughed and laughed freely, without a little bit of hatred for the fallen country. When Sima Zhao saw this, he said to a minister of Wei, “People are so heartless that they are like this! Even if Zhuge Liang had not died, he would not have been able to support such a ruler for long!” So he asked Liu Zen, “Do you still want to rule Shu?” Liu Zen replied, “I am happy here, I don’t want Shu!”
When the Shu officials saw him like this, they were naturally very anxious and sad. After a while, Liu Zen got up and left his seat to go out to take a piss, and Yu Zheng, the former “secretary-general” of Shu, followed him out immediately. In the corridor, he said to him secretly, “How can Your Majesty say, ‘I don’t miss Shu’? If Sima Zhao asks you again if you miss Shu, you should cry and say, ‘I really don’t miss Shu every day. Then we may have a hope to return to Shu.” Liu Zen remembered Yu Zheng’s words and returned to the banquet. Sima Zhao did ask Liu Zen again if he wanted to return to Shu. Liu Zen said the same thing that Yu Zheng had said, but he did not have a single tear, so he closed his eyes. Sima Zhao guessed that Yu Zheng must have taught Liu Chan to say that, so he deliberately asked, “How come your words are exactly the same as Yu Zheng’s?” Liu Zen was astonished, so he opened his eyes and said, “You are right, that is exactly what Yu Zheng taught me to say.” Sima Zhao and the people beside him couldn’t help but laugh. After the old ministers of Shu heard about this, there was no one who didn’t hate Liu Zen’s incompetence.
The “Lord of Shu”, Liu Zen, was nicknamed “A Dou”. Later, when people ridiculed people who did not strive for success and could not keep their promise, they called them “A Dou” or “the poor A Dou”.
Similar Idioms:
- 乐而忘返
