When quoting from other people’s articles or speeches, only the meaning of one paragraph or one sentence is intercepted without asking the original meaning, disregarding the basic content of the whole article or speech, and finally distorting the meaning of the article.
Idiom Pronunciation:
断章取义
duàn zhāng qǔ yì
Origin book:
《左传·襄公二十八年》：宗不余辟，余独焉辟之？赋《诗》断章，余取所求焉，恶识宗？
Origin Story:
During the Spring and Autumn Period of China, Cui Loom and Qing Feng, the great rulers of Qi, killed Duke Zhuang of Qi and made his half-brother Pestle and Mortar the ruler of the state, known as Duke Jing of Qi. Cui Loom and Qing Feng merited to be the right and left minister. Duke Zhuang had two loyal guards, one was named Lu Puji and the other was named Wang He. They fled abroad after Duke Zhuang was killed. Before fleeing, Lu Pu Kuei earnestly asked his younger brother Lu Pu He, “Do everything you can to gain the trust of Cui Loom and Qing Feng, so that I can return to my country at the right time to avenge Duke Zhuang.”
Lu Pu shou did not forget his brother’s instructions and later became a vassal of Qing Feng. He soon found out that although Qing Feng was the left minister, the power of the court was all held by the right minister Cui Loom, and Qing Feng was only the minister in name. So he helped Qing Feng to make a scheme to kill Cui Loom’s family by taking advantage of the conflict between Cui Loom’s sons for the succession and Cui Loom committed suicide. After that, the power of the Qi dynasty fell into the hands of Qing Feng. Later, Qing Feng fell in love with Lu Pu’s wife and stopped caring about the affairs of the court, so he put his son Qing She in charge.
Lu Pu Pu Yao was a great success in the process of killing Cui Loom, so he naturally became a big celebrity. At the request of his brother Lu Pu Juei, he managed to get him to return to Qi and became a guard for Qing She. Lu Pu Juei, who was originally a guard, was so brave that Qing She admired him and soon married his daughter Qing Jiang to him. After being favored by Qing She, he managed to get Wang He, a guard who had fled abroad at the same time, to return to Qi and work with him as Qing She’s guard. From then on, the two men privately contacted some people who were discontented with Qing’s father and son and prepared to kill Qing and avenge Duke Zhuang’s death.
Lu Pu Kuei’s wife Qing Jiang found her husband’s behavior mysterious, so she asked him what he was really doing and if she could discuss the matter with herself. He thought to himself, “How can I discuss with you when I am doing something to kill the Qing clan? But when she repeatedly asked him, he said to her, “If I tell you, I am afraid I will die. In that case, it would spoil the great matter.” After listening to her, Qing Jiang said, “Your husband’s business is also my business. If you tell me, I will plan with you if I can contribute, and I will never divulge it if I cannot.”
In this situation, Lu Pukui told Qing Jiang about the preparation to kill the Qing clan. Qing Jiang said that she would be righteous and help her husband to accomplish this righteous act and keep it a secret. The day of the event was chosen to be the day when Qing Feng was out hunting, and Qing Jiang persuaded her father Qing She to accompany Duke Jing of Qi to the Imperial Temple to perform the ritual. At this time, Lu Pu Kui suddenly stabbed his long spear into the chest of Qing She. After the death of Qing She, Lu Pu Kuei led his troops to kill the remaining members of the Qing clan. When Qing Feng learned this news on his way out for hunting, he returned to the city with the soldiers accompanying him, but as the city was too strong to be captured, he fled to Lu and was later killed.
Afterwards, someone asked Lu Pukui, “Both the Qing Clan and your Lu Clan are descendants of the Jiang surname, how did you join with the Qing Clan of the same clan and take Qing Jiang as your wife?” Lu Pukui replied, “Why should I go and avoid Qing She who does not shun me because I am of the same clan as him and marry my daughter? It is like someone who often intercepts a certain verse of a poem in the Book of Psalms to express himself. I’ll take only what I need, whatever it is about being of the same clan and not the same clan!”
