Idiom Explanation:
门庭若市：So many people in front of the house like the market. Describe a lot of people coming, very lively.
Pronunciation:
门庭若市
mén tíng ruò shì
origin:
《战国策·齐策一》： 乃下令：“群臣吏民能面刺寡人之过者，受上赏；上书谏寡人者，受中赏；能谤讥于市朝，闻寡人之耳者，受下赏。”令初下，群臣进谏，门庭若市。数月之后，时时而间（jiàn，间或，偶尔）进。期年（满一年，期音jī）之后，虽欲言，无可进者。燕、赵、韩、魏闻之，皆朝于齐。此所谓战胜于朝廷。
story:
During the Warring States period, Zou Ji, a minister of the state of Qi, was tall and dignified in appearance. In order to persuade King Wei of Qi to open wide the way of speech and encourage his ministers to advise, he told King Wei of Qi this story.
One morning, he put on his court uniform and hat, looked at the mirror and asked his wife, “Who is handsome between me and Xu Gong in the north of the city? “You are very handsome, Zou Ji, how can Xu Gong compare with you?” The wife said. Xu Gong was a famous and beautiful man in the state of Qi, Zou Ji heard his wife’s story and did not really believe that he was more handsome than Xu Gong, so he asked his concubine, who replied, “Xu Gong is not as beautiful as you are!” The next day, a guest came to Zou Ji’s house, and Zou Ji asked the guest the same question, and the guest said, “Xu Gong is not as handsome as you are!”
A few days later, when Duke Xu came to visit Zou Ji’s house, Zou Ji took the opportunity to take a closer look at Duke Xu and compare him with himself. As a result, Zou Ji found that he was indeed not as beautiful as Xu Gong.
The reason for this is that my wife favors me, my concubine fears me, and my guests ask me for something, so they all compliment me and don’t tell the truth. But our country of Qi is so big, and who in the palace does not favor you, who in the court does not fear you, who in the whole country does not want to be cared for by the king of Qi, it seems that there must be more people who compliment the king of Qi.
Zou Ji looked at King Wei of Qi and was not angry, then said, “What’s more, now that the state of Qi is thousands of miles and has many cities and towns, the king has contact with many more people than I do, and must have been more deluded. If the king could seek advice openly and honestly, it would be of great benefit to the state.” When King Wei of Qi heard this, he thought it was very reasonable and immediately ordered, “Whoever can point out my faults to my face will be rewarded at the top; whoever advises me by submitting a memorial will be rewarded at the middle; whoever discusses my faults in the court or in the market and they reach my ears will be rewarded at the bottom!”
Soon after this order of King Wei of Qi was announced, it really received good results. Many ministers and officials came to the court to criticize and advise King Wei of Qi, so that the court of Qi was as lively as a marketplace. Based on the advice given by the officials, King Wei of Qi promptly repaired his politics and corrected his mistakes and shortcomings. A year later, as all the shortcomings of King Wei of Qi had been corrected, the number of people making suggestions gradually decreased, and people felt that there was nothing more to suggest.
When Yan, Zhao, Han and Wei heard about it, they all came to Qi to make a pilgrimage. King Wei of Qi, being in the court, defeated some vassal states without having to send troops.
Similar Idioms:
- 车水马龙
- 人山人海
- 车马盈门
