For the male readers in here, what would you do if a woman sits on your lap for a whole night? We will not discuss the reaction after that, but in China culture, there is an idiom related to this: 坐懷不亂.
[otw_shortcode_tabslayout tabs=”2″ tab_1_title=”Simplified Chinese” tab_1_content=”一提到坐怀不乱大家都会想到柳下惠。柳下惠是中国古代非常有名的贤德之人。为什么他很有名呢？这就要从他的坐怀不乱故事说起了。
故事是这样的，有一天晚上下了大雨。刚外出访友的柳下惠只能找个地方避雨。刚好附近有个破庙，他就进去了。不久一个姑娘也进来了，两个人就相对无言，雨一直下个不停，两人就躺下睡觉了。
结果半夜那个妹子被冻醒了，就要求坐到柳下惠怀里两个人相拥取暖，柳下惠刚开始不答应，还说三更半夜孤男寡女共处一室本来就不妥当，再一块抱著成何体统。妹子说：「你心思纯洁抱着我就好了，我要是病倒了，家里的老母亲就没人照顾了。」柳下惠最终让她坐在他怀中，用衣服盖住她，安安稳稳地睡到天亮。
后来这件事传开来，人人都尊敬他，叫「柳下惠坐怀不乱（柳下惠虽然有女子坐在他的怀中，他也不乱来）」！
” tab_2_title=”Traditional Chinese” tab_2_content=”
一提到坐懷不亂大家都會想到柳下惠。柳下惠是中國古代非常有名的賢德之人。爲什麼他很有名呢？這就要從他的坐懷不亂故事說起了。
故事是這樣的，有一天晚上下了大雨。剛外出訪友的柳下惠只能找個地方避雨。剛好附近有個破廟，他就進去了。不久一個姑娘也進來了，兩個人就相對無言，雨一直下個不停，兩人就躺下睡覺了。
結果半夜那個妹子被凍醒了，就要求坐到柳下惠懷裡兩個人相擁取暖，柳下惠剛開始不答應，還說三更半夜孤男寡女共處一室本來就不妥當，再一塊抱著成何體統。妹子說：「你心思純潔抱著我就好了，我要是病倒了，家裡的老母親就沒人照顧了。」柳下惠最終讓她坐在他懷中，用衣服蓋住她，安安穩穩地睡到天亮。
後來這件事傳開來，人人都尊敬他，叫「柳下惠坐懷不亂（柳下惠雖然有女子坐在他的懷中，他也不亂來）」！
“][/otw_shortcode_tabslayout]
English translation:
When we are speaking the idiom 坐懷不亂, everyone will think of Liu Xiahui. Liu Xiahui is a very famous man-of-virtue in ancient China. Why is he famous? We need to start from his story of 坐懷不亂.
The story is like this, one night it rained heavily. Liu Xiahui, who has just gone out to visit friends, can only find a place to shelter from the rain. Just after there was a broken temple nearby, he went in. Soon a woman came in, and the two were not speaking to each other. The rain kept going, and the two laid down to sleep.
As a result, the girl was awake in the middle of the night because of the cold, and asked to sit in the Liu Xiahui’s embrace, to warm oneself by hugging each other. Liu Xiahui disagreed at first, saying that it is not inappropriate already for a lonely man and a widowed woman to live together in a room in the middle of the night, and it will be much more scandalous if we are hugging each other. The woman said: “You can hold me with a clean and pure mind. If I fall ill, no one will take care of my old mother at home.” Liu Xiahui finally let her sit in his arms, covering her with clothes, and they sleep steadily until dawn.
Later, this incident spread, everyone respected him, and called “Liu Xiahui 坐懷不亂 (Even though Liu Xiahui has a woman sitting in his arms, he does not mess around)”!
Special notes:
- 坐懷不亂 – zuòhuáibùluàn – [idiom] does not mess around even though there is someone sitting on his lap (used to describe a man with good morale)
- 相對無言 – xiāngduìwúyán – [idiom] face each other but not saying a single word
The article is taken and revised from here to suit the level of readers. The photo is taken from here.