草菅人命 — “To treat human lives as if they were worthless grass”

Jia Yi, a brilliant scholar from Luoyang during the Han Dynasty, was highly favored by Emperor Wen and served in various official capacities. However, due to jealousy from others, he was eventually demoted to be the Grand Tutor to the King of Changsha. Feeling politically frustrated, he compared himself to Qu Yuan and wrote famous essays like 'Diao Qu Yuan Fu'.

Later, Emperor Wen recalled him to serve as the Grand Tutor to Liu Yi, the King of Liang, who was Emperor Wen's most beloved son and hoped to inherit the throne. Emperor Wen wished Jia Yi to educate him well. Jia Yi took this opportunity to express his views, stating, 'While it is crucial to educate a prince, it is even more important to teach him how to be an upright person. Consider Zhao Gao at the end of the Qin Dynasty, who tutored Qin Er Shi, Hu Hai. What Zhao Gao taught Hu Hai were severe laws and brutal punishments; all he learned was about executions, mutilations, and wiping out entire families. Consequently, as soon as Hu Hai became emperor, he wantonly slaughtered people, treating human lives as lightly as cutting down mere straw. Was this purely due to Hu Hai's inherently evil nature? No, the fundamental reason was that his tutor failed to guide him onto the right path.'

Later, when Jia Yi arrived in Liang to assume his duties, he diligently guided the King of Liang. Tragically, King Huai of Liang died in an accidental fall from his horse. Jia Yi, blaming himself for not having fully fulfilled his responsibilities as tutor, became deeply melancholic and often wept. He passed away over a year later at the young age of 33. Nevertheless, Jia Yi's profound discourse on the education of a ruler has been preserved. The idiom '草菅人命' (cǎo jiān rén mìng) has since been used to describe the ruthless cruelty of those who brutally disregard human lives.