What does approachable mean?

Approachable, a Chinese idiom, means to be gentle, approachable, without any airs, making people approachable. It also means that the text is simple and easy to understand. From "Historical Records: The Family of Dukes of Lu and Zhou".

Synonyms: affable, approachable

Antonyms: aggressive, domineering

Source: Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty's "Historical Records: The Family of Duke Zhou of Lu": approachable to the people, people Must return.

Extended information

At the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Boqin, son of Duke Zhou Dan, was granted the title of Lu, and Taigong Wang (Jiang Ziya) was granted the title of Qi. Duke Zhou was still serving as regent to assist King Zhou Cheng. Three years later, Bo Qin went to the court to report government affairs to Zhou Gong. Zhou Gong asked: "Why are you here so late?" Bo Qin said: "It takes a lot of effort to change the etiquette and customs. For example, mourning must be served for three years before it can be removed."

After Taigong arrived, he went to report on government affairs five months later. Duke Zhou said: "Why did you come so quickly?" Taigong said: "I have greatly simplified the etiquette of monarchs and ministers, and everything is simple and popular." Taigong later heard that After hearing Bo Qin's report on political affairs, he sighed and said: "The descendants of Lu will definitely surrender to Qi in the north. If politics are not simple and easy for the people, the people will not be willing to get close to them.

Only when the people are easy to approach can the people surrender. "So "approachable" originally refers to the simplicity of politics. However, in the Tang Dynasty, in order to avoid the taboo of Tang Taizong Li Shimin, all words referring to "people" were changed to "people", and this term is no exception.

For example, when Bai Juyi quoted this sentence in "Celin" on the twelfth chapter, he changed it to "approachable". With this change, the meaning has changed, from referring to politics to referring to the attitude towards life, and sometimes also refers to the easy-to-understand style of the article.

Reference materials:

Baidu Encyclopedia - approachable (words)