The original meaning of the idiom black sheep: just to get rid of some bad habits of horses

Those who endanger the collective are called black sheep. However, tracing back to the source, the meaning of the current black sheep and the original black sheep horse is actually the opposite.

The idiom black sheep is from "Zhuangzi Zacha Xu Wu Ghost".

The Yellow Emperor will see the Mountain of The Great Kui... When he met the wrangler boy, he asked Tu Yan, "If you know the mountain of Kuci?" "Yes." "If you know where the Great Kui exists?" "Yes." The Yellow Emperor said, "Strange boy! Not in vain knows the mountain of Kushi, but also knows the existence of the Great Kui. Please ask for the world. ”...... Child's words. The Yellow Emperor asked again. The little boy said: "The husband is the one who is the world, and he is also a horse herder who is different?" Just go to its horse-killer!" The Yellow Emperor then paid homage to the head of the court and told the Heavenly Master to retreat.

The Yellow Emperor wanted to go to Mount Kuci to meet DaKui, but he got lost. Just happened to meet a small child who was herding horses, so he asked the ponies for directions, and the Yellow Emperor asked, "Do you know Mount Guci?" Pony replied, "I know." The Yellow Emperor asked again, "Do you know where Da Kui lives?" The teenager replied, "Yes." The Yellow Emperor said, "Strange, such a small child not only knows Mount Guci, but also knows where Da Kui lives." How do you govern the world? The child said, "I don't understand." The Yellow Emperor asked again, and the child said, "Is this ruling the world different from herding horses?" It's just about getting rid of everything that's harmful to the horses! That is, to get rid of excesses and let nature take its course!" The Yellow Emperor performed a great ceremony and called him "Heavenly Master".

When this little child who herds horses says harming horses, he originally means damaging the natural nature of horses.

Liu Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty wrote in "The Matter of The Edict": "If such acts are poor, if they are small and ambitious, they will reunite with the party and wantonly ruin their reputations, like the black sheep, it is advisable to discuss it lightly!" At this time, there was a "black sheep", but the meaning was different from what Zhuangzi said.

I myself have herded horses and asked older herders, and they believe that horses have advantages and disadvantages, but there is no kind of black sheep that can cause harm to the horses.

Not only are there no black sheep, but there are no black sheep, no black sheep, only black sheep. Man himself is not good, but he speaks with horses.

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