Idiom Explanation:
The metaphor is to enjoy joy and happiness together and to share misfortune and suffering.
Pronunciation:
同甘共苦
tóng gān gòng kǔ
Origin:
《战国策·燕策一》：燕王吊死问生，与百姓同其甘苦。
Story:
In ancient China, King Zhaoge’s father, King Kuai of Yan, tried to follow the example of Emperor Yao who gave his throne to Emperor Shun instead of his own son, but unexpectedly caused a great disaster. He gave up his throne to Zi Zhi, a minister of state. Zi Zhi was a cruel person, instead, he wanted to get rid of the King of Yan’s son and close friends. As a result, Yan was in great turmoil, and Qi took advantage of this opportunity to launch a massive army and wrecked Yan. Zi Zhi was killed and King Kuai of Yan hanged himself. Prince Ping, later known as King Zhao of Yan, and Prince Fu Guo Kui fled to Mount Wu Ding for refuge.
The people of Yan at first hated Zi Zhi’s tyranny and thought that Qi sent troops to pacify the country out of good intentions, but it turned out that the king of Qi aimed to destroy Yan, and most of the land of Yan had already belonged to Qi. The people could not bear to have their homeland invaded and missed the prince. The people could not bear the invasion of their homeland and missed the prince. So they took the initiative to defend themselves against the Qi army, and sought for the missing prince, and finally found him on Mount Wujin. The Qi army had to retreat to Qi because they were not popular and could not manage a large part of Yan at once. However, Yan also suffered unprecedented losses and became the weakest state among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States. King Zhaoge of Yan hated Qi and vowed to avenge his family’s hatred and to avenge his country’s hatred. King Zhao of Yan was determined to make his country rich and strong, but he felt helpless.
One day, he heard that Guo Kui was good at ideas and scheming, so he hurriedly sent someone to invite Guo Kui and said to him, “Can you find me a person who has the ability to help me enrich the people and strengthen the country?” Guo Kui replied, “If you select a man of skill extensively and visit him personally, then all the men of skill in the world will come to the state of Yan.” King Zhao of Yan wondered, “Which one is the best one for me to visit?” Guo Kui replied, “First of all, I should be reappointed as a person with mediocre skills! When people with high skills in the world see that people like me are reappointed by you, they will surely come to you despite the long journey.”
King Zhao of Yan immediately honored Guo Kui as his teacher and built him a magnificent residence. As soon as the news spread, talented people such as Le Yi, Zou Yan and Xi Xin came from Wei, Qi and Zhao to serve King Zhao of Yan. King Zhaoge was very happy and entrusted all of them with important duties. At the same time, he treated the people with great care, and it was recorded in the history that “the king of Yan hung on the death and asked for life, and shared the hardships with the people.” No matter who had a wedding, funeral or marriage, he sent officials to ask about it. He shared the people’s happiness and suffering for 28 years, and finally made the state of Yan rich and strong, and was unanimously supported by the whole country.
Later, when King Zhao of Yan finally found the right time, he sent Yue Yi as the commander and united with other vassal states to attack the powerful state of Qi.
Similar Idioms:
- 有福同享，有难同当
- 患难与共
