It's from Zi Zhi Tong Jian Two Years of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan written by Sima Guang in the Northern Song Dynasty.

"Listening to all things makes you clear, but favoritism makes you dark" means that only by listening to opinions from all sides at the same time can you correctly understand things; If you only believe in one-sided words, you will inevitably make one-sided mistakes.

Pinyin: ji ā n t ā ng zé mí ng, piān xìn zé àn

Concurrent listening: listening to different opinions in many ways.

Ming: distinguish right from wrong.

dark: confused, unable to distinguish the truth.

Extended information

Allusions of "Listening to all things makes you clear, but favoritism makes you 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 make him confused and often make wrong judgments. Only by widely listening to opinions and adopting correct opinions can you not be deceived, and you will know the following situation clearly. "

From then on, Emperor Taizong paid great attention to the following advice and encouraged ministers to speak out. After the death of Wei Zhi, Emperor Taizong said sadly: "Using copper as a mirror, we can see whether the clothes and hats are neatly dressed, and using history as a mirror, we can understand why the dynasties rose and fell; By using people as mirrors, we can know the gap and gains and losses between ourselves and others. Wei Zhi is gone today, and I really lost a good mirror! "