A good man has ambitions everywhere. This idiom story is about Chong'er, a prince of the Jin Dynasty during the Spring and Autumn Period. Later generations used this sentence to describe people who have broad and lofty aspirations and are willing to go to distant places to do great things. "Zhi" refers to ambition. The meaning of this word is that one has great ambitions and is unwilling to stick to his homeland and live in a small world. People often use this sentence to encourage young people who are preparing to enter the society and encourage them to create a world of their own.

However, the original source of "Good men are ambitious in all directions" did not contain the words "good men". This idiom comes from "Zuo Zhuan: The Twenty-Third Year of Duke Xi": "The Jiang family killed him, and said to the young master: 'You have ambitions from all directions. If you hear about them, I will kill them.'" In the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin Dynasty Duke Xian believed Li Ji's words and killed Prince Shen Sheng. So Prince Chong'er and Yi Wu took refuge in Di and Liang respectively. Later, Duke Xian of Jin died, and his son Yiwu succeeded him. He was worried that Chong'er would seize the throne, so he sent people to hunt him down. Chong'er hid in the state of Qi. Duke Huan of Qi thought highly of Chong'er and married his relative's daughter Qi Jiang to him. Seven years later, Chong'er, who had fully adapted to life in Qi, did not want to return to Jin at all. After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Xiao of Qi ruled the country, and the national power of Qi gradually declined. Zifu, Zhao Shui and others who went with Chong'er secretly discussed in the mulberry garden about letting Chong'er return home. But Qi Jiang's maid was picking mulberry leaves from the tree and heard their secret conversation. After Qi Jiang learned about it, he killed the maid and told Chong'er: "If a man wants to do a great career, it is not advisable to miss his wife and covet comfort. I have killed the maid, please go away!" Chong'er said in surprise: "But I don't want to leave!" After hearing this, Qi Jiang did not persuade him anymore, but secretly discussed countermeasures with Zi Fu and others. They got Chong'er drunk and sent him out of Qi. Finally, Chong'er finally returned to the Jin State at the age of sixty-two and became the king of the Jin State, that is, the Duke Wen of Jin in history.

This is the origin of the idiom "Aiming in all directions". From this story, people later came up with the phrase "A good man is aiming in all directions", which has been passed down to this day.