During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, one year, there was a serious famine in Qi, and a large number of poor people were starved to death because of lack of food and food. A noble slave owner named Qian Ao put some food on the roadside, waiting for the hungry poor to pass by and give them alms.

One day, a hungry man covered his face with sleeves and dragged a pair of worn-out shoes. When Qian Ao saw this, he picked up the dish in his left hand and the soup in his right, and proudly shouted, "Hey! Come and eat! "

The hungry man looked up and glared at him contemptuously and said, "I'm so hungry because I don't eat this delicious food." Qian ao also felt that he had gone too far, so he apologized to the hungry man, but the hungry man refused to eat and starved to death on the side of the road.

Original text:

Qi is hungry. Qian ao eats for Tao and hunger. If you are hungry, please come, and trade will come hastily. Qian Ao ate on the left and drank on the right, saying, "Hey! Come and eat! " Raise your eyes and look at it and say, "Give but don't eat your food, so you too!" " So thank you for dying without food. Hearing this, Ceng Zi said, "Micro-peace! Embarrassed, you can go, you can thank it, you can eat it. "

Extended data:

Eat without eating, from The Book of Rites. Tan Gong.

The famous saying "eat whatever you have" comes from this story, which means to show your backbone and never condescend to accept charity from others, even if you starve yourself to death. Hungry people don't eat Qian Ao's food because Qian Ao is arrogant and regards the poor as pigs and dogs, and his charity is degrading.

The tradition in China attaches great importance to being a man with backbone. In layman's terms, people can't live without breath, even if they are bitter. There are some similar sayings, for example, people are not poor, they would rather die than surrender, people want face, trees want skin ... all these show the importance of integrity, human dignity and human spirit.