Trouble arises from the Xiao wall. Metaphorically, the disaster occurred from within.
Idiom Pronunciation:
祸起萧墙
huò qǐ xiāo qiáng
Origin Story:
Confucius had two students named Ran You and Zi Lu. One day, they hurried back to Qufu from Feiyi to report the recent situation to their teacher. At that time, the two were doing things under Ji Kangzi, the most powerful minister of the state of Lu, who was not even in the eyes of Duke Lu Ai. He decided to seize Zhuan Yu, a small state nearby, to create civil strife and strengthen his military power, so that he could oust Duke Ai of Lu and replace him. Ran You and Zi Lu were both involved in the planning before the expedition, but they were afraid of opposition from their teachers and did not dare to hide it, so they slowed down and walked in carefully before arriving at the Kong residence in Que Li.
Upon seeing his teacher, Ran You preempted him by saying, “I am afraid that something unfavorable is about to happen to Zhuan Yu from the family of Ji Sun.” Upon hearing this, the wise Confucius immediately surmised what was going on and said, “This is probably the fault of both of you as well. Zhuan Yu is the head of the Eastern Meng Mountain, which was assigned by the previous king, and is within the domain of our state Lu, so it is a vassal state of the ruler of Lu, so why should you attack it?” Ran You hurriedly explained, “Ji Kangzi insisted on doing this, and we all disapproved of it and even tried to discourage it, but he wouldn’t listen.”
Confucius understood that this was a deliberate attempt by Ran You to shirk his responsibility, so he asked Ran You directly and rhetorically, “Since you have been a vassal of Ji Kangzi, and you did not warn your master when he was facing danger, and you did not help him when he was about to fall, what is the use of having such vassals as you? Is it not the responsibility of the keeper when a tiger or leopard runs out of the wooden cage and hurts someone? Was it not the keeper’s fault that the turtle armor and jade rotted in the box? You and Zi Lu cannot shirk your responsibility for the fact that Ji Kangzi is about to attack the vassal state Zhuan Yu.”
Ran You further argued, “Zhuan Yu, though small, is in a dangerous position, growing stronger by the day, and so close to Feiyi, if we don’t attack it now, it will surely become a future problem for the descendants of the Ji clan.”
Confucius smiled and said, “Ran You, I hate people who make up reasons to achieve their personal goals. Go back and tell him that I, Confucius, have heard this: He who is in charge of a country does not suffer from scarcity but from inequality, and from poverty but from disquiet, so that there is no poverty in equality, no scarcity in peace, and no tilting in peace. If, in this way, people from far away do not come to join us, we should improve the system of civilization and etiquette and invite them to come here; and if they come here, we should settle them properly. Now you two are the vassals of Ji Fu Zi, and when the people from far away do not come, and you fail to attract them with sincere and good deeds, and the country will fall apart, and you cannot maintain the unity, but you want to make a big fight and create civil strife, I am afraid that Ji Kang Zi’s worries do not lie in Zhuan Yu, but within the Xiao wall.” Ran You and Zi Lu respectfully left Confucius’ residence.
Confucius was worried about “within the Xiao wall”, meaning that the worry was within the court of Lu, between the brothers of the Ji family. In the time of Confucius, the state of Lu was in a state of political turmoil and change. At that time, the three families of the descendants of the Duke of Huan, Jisun, Monsun and Shusun, were getting stronger and stronger, and the state of Lu was declining. The three families jointly held the imperial government of Lu, among which, the Jisun family was the most powerful. Later on, the brothers of the Ji family did have problems, so when there was internal trouble in later times, it was described as “trouble rising from the Xiao wall”.
Similar Idioms:
- 同室操戈
