To cherish one's own worn-out broom as a treasure; to value something of little objective worth simply because it is one's own or belongs to one.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
It has been a long-standing tradition for scholars to belittle one another. Fu Yi and Ban Gu were literary peers, yet Ban Gu often looked down upon Fu Yi. In a letter to his brother Ban Chao, he once wrote: 'Wu Zhong (Fu Yi) attained the post of Archivist due to his writing skills, but once he put pen to paper, he couldn't stop himself.'
Generally, people are adept at recognizing their own merits. However, literature encompasses diverse styles, and few can truly master them all. Therefore, individuals often use their own strengths to dismiss others' shortcomings.
As a folk saying goes: 'Even a family's worn-out broom is cherished as if it were worth a thousand pieces of gold.' This illustrates the pitfall of being unable to see one's own faults or objectively evaluate one's own possessions.