One day, the king summoned（传唤） him to court and asked, "Now that the magistrate¹（地方法官） position of Nanyang county is vacant（空的） , who do you think is suitable for the post?"

 

"Xie Hu is the right man for the job," Qi replied without hesitation².

 

Surprised, the king asked, "Did you say Xie Hu? I thought he's your enemy. Why did you recommend him to take such an important position?"

 

Smiling, Qi Huangyang said, "Your Majesty³ didn't ask me my personal opinions of Xie Hu. You simply asked me who I thought would be competent for the position. Therefore I recommended Xie Hu.

 

The king followed Qi's advice and made Xie Hu magistrate of Nanyang county. And sure enough, Xie Hu administered the county very well and won respect from local people and his colleagues.

 

Some days later, the king again asked Qi Huangyang for his opinions. This time, the king was trying to find a suitable candidate for a court judge position. Qi Huangyiang recommended Qi Wu for the job. Once again, the king was surprised again by the recommendation because Qi Wu was the son of Qi Huangyang. The king asked: "Who do you recommend your son? Aren't you afraid people will gossip?"

 

Qi Huangyang replied, "Your Majesty, you asked me who was the most capable person for the position of a judge, and I think Qi Wu is."

 

Although the king was a bit hesitant about making Qi Wu the judge, he nevertheless（然而，不过） gave him the position. As it turned out, Qi Wu was an upright（正直的） and talented judge, who people greatly respected.

 

Qi Huangyang's actions were praised by Confucius who said, "Qi Huangyang was right. He recommended people according to their abilities and talents, not because of personal sentiments, not because of fearing others' gossip. Therefore, people like Qi Huangyang are referred to as people "without selfish motives⁴".

 

From Confucious' comment came the idiom "Unselfish". Anyone who handles affairs fairly and impartially⁶ can be described as "Unselfish; Perfectly⁷ impartial⁵".

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