In the second year of Jian 'an reign, Taizong Zhenguan said, "Ask Wei Hui:' Who is the master of man?' Yes, it says,' Anyone who listens is bright, while those who listen are dark'. "

Listening is bright, favoritism is dark.

Emperor Taizong asked Prime Minister Wei Zhi: "As the king of a country, how can I distinguish right from wrong and not be deceived?" Wei Zhi replied: "As a monarch, only listening to one side of the story will confuse him and often make wrong judgments. Only by extensively listening to opinions and adopting correct opinions will we not be deceived and will we clearly know the following situation. "

From then on, Emperor Taizong attached great importance to the following admonitions and encouraged ministers to speak freely. After the death of Wei Zhi, Emperor Taizong said bitterly: "With copper as a mirror, we can see whether the clothes and hats are neatly dressed, and with history as a mirror, we can understand the reasons for the rise and fall of dynasties; Only by taking people as a mirror can we know the gap and gains and losses between ourselves and others. Wei Zhi is gone today, I really lost a good mirror! "

The idiom "Listening while listening is bright, listening while listening is dark" evolved from Wei Zhi's advice to Emperor Taizong.

This idiom means that you can understand the truth and make a correct judgment by listening to a variety of opinions, but you can't know the truth and draw a wrong conclusion by listening to only one opinion. Warn people to listen to opinions widely, and don't just listen to one person in order to do things well.