画地为牢 huàdìwéiláo

In the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- A.D. 8), there was a historian named Sima Qian, whose father was also a historian. Sima read many books and traveled to many places at an early age and made up his mind to write a great history book.

During the reign of Emperor Liu Che, general Li Ling was defeated on the battlefield and forced to surrender to the Hun minority in the north.

Because of his defense of the general, Sima Qian irritated the emperor, and was punished by castration and a long jail sentence.

He later wrote a letter to his friend Ren An to explain why he did not commit suicide after sustaining such a big insult.

"All human beings are mortal, but they die in different ways. Some deaths are lighter than a feather, but some heavier than the mountain... In ancient times, a noble man would feel insulted when he had his freedom restricted by a circle drawn on the ground that served as a jail. I endured all the wrongs done to me because I wanted to complete my history book,¡" Sima said.

Later, Sima was deemed to be the first great historian of China and his "Historical Records" (shǐ-jì) became one of the most influential histories ever written.

The phrase "huàdì-wéiláo," which means "to draw a circle on the ground that serves as a jail," became fixed as an idiom. It now refers to the situation of being restricted by boundaries that can in fact be neglected, especially outdated ideas and traditions.

(Zhang Xiangzhen)