I love the house, even the crows on it. The metaphor is that because one loves someone, one also loves the person or thing with whom he is related.
Idiom Pronunciation:
爱屋及乌
ài wū jí wū
Origin:
《尚书大传·大战》：纣死，武王皇皇，若天下之未定。召太公而问曰：“入殷奈何？”太公曰：“臣闻之也：爱人者，兼其屋上之乌；不爱人者，及其胥余。何如？”
Story:
At the end of the Shang Dynasty in China, King Zhou of Shang ruled with great brutality and lost the hearts of the people. King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty led his troops to destroy the Shang Dynasty and established the Zhou Dynasty. After the establishment of the kingdom, King Wu was very confused about how to deal with the officials left behind by the Shang Dynasty. He asked Jiang Tai Gong, “Now that the Zhou Dynasty is established, what should be done with the officials of the Shang Dynasty?” Jiang Tai Gong said, “I have heard that those who love their people also love the crows on their houses (note: in ancient China crows were often considered to be unlucky birds). It is better to kill them all.”
After hearing Jiang Tai Gong’s opinion, King Wu did not quite agree. So he summoned Zhaogong again and asked the same question. Zhaogong replied, “I have heard people say that corrupt officials who oppress the common people together with King Zhou of Shang must be put to death, while good officials who are just and honest to the common people should be kept alive. We must distinguish the guilty from the innocent, the good from the bad. The bad ones are punished by death, and none of them are to be left behind.”
King Wu of Zhou was still not satisfied with what he heard, and finally he asked the Duke of Zhou about this issue. The Duke of Zhou said, “I think we should let all these officials go back to their own homes and cultivate their own fields and earn their own living. Then, by administering benevolent rule to the common people of the country, the world will certainly be peaceful.”
King Wu was so happy to hear this that he followed the Duke of Zhou’s method of governing the country, and as a result, the world was soon settled.
