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The 24 Filial Exemplars (13)

Guō Jù 郭巨

13. HE BURIED HIS SON FOR HIS MOTHER

In the Hàn dynasty the family of Guō Jù was poor. He had a three-year-old son. His mother sometimes divided her food with the child. Jù said to his wife: "[Because we are] very poor, we cannot provide for Mother. Our son is sharing Mother's food. Why not bury this son?" He was digging the pit three feet deep when he struck a caldron of gold. On it [an inscription] read: "No official may take this nor may any other person seize it." A verse says of him:
Guō Jù wishes to serve his mother, and

Buries his son that his mother may survive;

Yellow gold is bestowed by heaven, and

Brilliant fortune brightens their poor threshold.
十三、为母埋儿
汉。郭巨家贫。有子三岁。母尝减食与之。巨谓妻曰。贫乏不能供母。子又分父母之食。盍埋此子。及掘坑三尺。得黄金一釜。上云官不得取。民不得夺。有诗为颂。 诗曰
郭巨思供亲。埋儿为母存。黄金天所赐。光彩照寒门。


13. Wèi Mǔ Mái Ér
Hàn Guō Jù jiā pín. Yǒu zǐ sān suì. Mǔ cháng jiǎn shí yǔ zhī. Jù wèi qī yuē. Pín fá bù néng gòng mǔ. Zǐ yòu fēng mǔ zhi shí. Hé mái cǐ zǐ. Jí jué kēng sān chǐ. Dé huángjīn yī fǔ. Shàng yún guān bù dé qǔ. Mín bù dé duó. Yǒu shī wéi sòng.
Shī yuē:
Guō jù sī gòng qīn. Mái ér wèi mǔ cún. Huángjīn tiān suǒ sì. Guāng cǎi zhào hán mén.


十三、為母埋兒
漢。郭巨家貧。有子三歲。母嘗減食與之。巨謂妻曰。貧乏不能供母。子又分父母之食。盍埋此子。及掘坑三尺。得黃金一釜。上云官不得取。民不得奪。有詩為頌。 詩曰
郭巨思供親。埋兒為母存。黃金天所賜。光彩照寒門。
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