偏听偏信 piān tīng piān xìn biased hearing and belief

Explanation

指只听信一面之词，而不顾及其他方面的情况。比喻处理事情不公正，不客观。

To only listen to and believe one side of a story without considering other perspectives. It describes the act of being unfair and objective when handling matters.

Origin Story

唐太宗李世民在位期间，励精图治，广开言路，虚心纳谏，成就了贞观之治的盛世。他常与大臣们讨论国事，其中魏征就是他最倚重的谏臣之一。一次，李世民问魏征：“怎样才能成为一个贤明的皇帝呢？”魏征答道：“尧舜之所以成为圣明的君主，是因为他们能够兼听则明，广泛听取各种不同的意见，而秦二世、隋炀帝之所以走向灭亡，就是因为他们偏听偏信，只听信自己宠臣的谗言，不听取其他人的忠告。”李世民深以为然，从此更加注重采纳各方意见，最终成就了历史上著名的贞观之治。这个故事告诉我们，处理任何事情都要全面考虑，切勿偏听偏信，否则将会铸成大错。

táng tàizōng lǐ shìmín zàiwèi qījiān, lì jīng tú zhì, guǎng kāi yánlù, xūxīn nàjiàn, chéngjiùle zhēnguān zhī zhì de shèngshì. tā cháng yǔ dà chén men tǎolùn guósì, qízhōng wèi zhēng jiùshì tā zuì yǐzhòng de jiàn chén zhī yī. yīcì, lǐ shìmín wèn wèi zhēng：‘zěn yàng cái néng chéngwéi yīgè xiánmíng de huángdì ne？’ wèi zhēng dá dào：‘yáo shùn zhī suǒyǐ chéngwéi shèngmíng de jūnzhǔ, shì yīnwèi tāmen nénggòu jiāntīng zé míng, guǎngfàn tīngqǔ gè zhǒng bùtóng de yìjiàn, ér qín èrshì, suí yángdì zhī suǒyǐ zǒuxiàng mièwáng, jiùshì yīnwèi tāmen piāntīng piān xìn, zhǐ tīng xìn zìjǐ chǒngchén de chányán, bù tīngqǔ qítā rén de zhōnggào.’ lǐ shìmín shēn yǐwéirán, cóngcǐ gèngjiā zhùzhòng cǎinà gèfāng yìjiàn, zuìzhōng chéngjiùle lìshǐ shàng zhùmíng de zhēnguān zhī zhì. zhège gùshì gàosù wǒmen, chǔlǐ rènhé shìqíng dōu yào quánmiàn kǎolǜ, qiēwù piāntīng piān xìn, fǒuzé jiāng huì zhùchéng dà cuò.

During his reign, Emperor Taizong of Tang strived for good governance, opened the way for expression of opinions, and readily listened to advice, leading to the flourishing era of Zhenquan. He often discussed state affairs with his ministers, among whom Wei Zheng was one of his most valued advisors. Once, Taizong asked Wei Zheng: "How can I become a wise emperor?" Wei Zheng replied: "The reason why Yao and Shun became sage rulers was that they listened to various opinions and were wise in their decision-making, while the demise of the second generation of Qin and the emperors of Sui was due to their bias and credulity, listening only to the flattery of their favored officials and ignoring other warnings." Taizong took this to heart and paid even more attention to all sides of an issue, ultimately achieving the famous Zhenquan rule. This story tells us that in handling any matter, we must consider all aspects carefully and not be swayed by biased opinions, otherwise major mistakes may result.

Usage

偏听偏信常用于批评那些不公平公正、不客观处理事情的人。

piāntīng piān xìn cháng yòng yú pīpíng nàxiē bù gōngpíng gōngzhèng, bù kèguān chǔlǐ shìqíng de rén.

"Piāntīng piān xìn" is often used to criticize those who handle matters unfairly, unjustly, and objectively.

Examples

• 他总是偏听偏信，结果被骗了好多钱。

  tā zǒngshì piāntīng piān xìn, jiéguǒ bèi piànle hǎoduō qián.

  He always listens to only one side of the story and believes it blindly, which resulted in him being swindled out of a lot of money.

• 处理事情要公平公正，不能偏听偏信。

  chǔlǐ shìqíng yào gōngpíng gōngzhèng, bùnéng piāntīng piān xìn

  When handling matters, one must be fair and just, and not be biased or blindly trust one side

Related Idioms

• 轻信

• 盲从

Opposite Idioms

• 兼听则明

• 公平公正