Carrying Sticks and Asking for a Flogging
Explanation：
To offer a sincere apology.
Story：
During the Warring States Period the king of the State of Qin invited the king of the State of Zhao to a meeting in the territory of Qin. At a banquet in honor of his guest， the king of Qin asked the king of Zhao to play the zither. Although， this was a most humiliating request， the king of Zhao dared not refuse.
Lin Xiangru， a senior official of Zhao， who had accompanied his master to Qin， was outraged. So he picked up a large jar， strode up to the king of Qin with it and insisted that he play it like a drum. Intimidated by the fierce Lin， the king of Qin reluctantly struck the jar with his hand once. Thereupon， the assembled ministers of Qin demanded that Zhao hand over 15 cities to Qin in compensation for Lin Xiangru's offense. But Lin coolly demanded that Qin present its capital Xanyang to the king of Zhao as a forfeit for the king of Qin's insult to his visitor. The result was a stalemate， but the king of Zhao's face had been saved. In gratitude， the king promoted Lin Xiangru to the post of grand vizier.
This honor done to Lin Yiangru， however， aroused the resentment of Lian Po， the commander-in-chief of the Zhao army. Lian Po grumbled， "I reached my position after risking my life in battle after battle. Yet this fellow Lin Yiangru climbs right to the top of the tree just through talking！ I am determined to humiliate this upstart in public as soon as I meet him." When this threat was conveyed to Lin Xiangru he shut himself up indoors， pretending to be ill， so as to avoid meeting Lian Po.
One day Lin Xiangru went out in his carriage. Seeing Lian Po's carriage coming from the opposite direction， he ordered his driver to turn around to avoid a confrontation with Lian Po. This caused his acquaintances to mock him as a coward. But Lin Xiangru said to them： "Who do you think is more powerful， General Lian or the king of Qin？" "The king of Qin， of course，" they replied. Then Lin continued， "You remember that I dared to upbraid the king of Qin public within his own domain， so how could I fear General Lian？ The fact is that the only thing that deters Qin from invading Zhao is the presence of General Lian at the head of our army and myself at the head of the administration. If we two were at loggerheads Qin might be tempted to invade. I cannot risk the safety of the state for my own petty pride."
When these words were conveyed to Lian Po he was overcome with remorse. He straightaway gathered up a bundle of wooden sticks， tied them onto his naked back and appeared before Lin Xiangru in an attitude of humble apology.
負荊請罪
解釋：
背著荊條請罪，表示主動向對方賠禮認錯。
故事：
戰(zhàn)國時，趙國有一個足智多謀的上大夫藺相如，還有一個英勇善戰(zhàn)的大將軍廉頗。有一年，秦王邀請趙王到澠池相會。酒宴上，秦王請趙王彈瑟。趙王彈了一曲。
作陪的藺相如心想，必須為趙王爭回面子，于是捧起一個缸，走到秦王面前說：“大王擅長秦樂，請大王一擊，以相娛樂?！痹谔A相如的強逼下，秦王勉強在缸上擊了一下。秦國的大臣氣得大叫：“請趙國割讓出十五座城作為向秦王的獻禮！”藺相如也高喊：“請秦國把首都咸陽作為向趙王的獻禮！”秦國始終沒能占到半點便宜。事后，趙王封藺相如為上大夫。
廉頗很不服氣，他對人說：“我出生入死，立了許多戰(zhàn)功，而藺相如只憑三寸不爛之舌，就官居我之上。倘若給我遇見，我一定要當面羞辱他?！碧A相如聽說以后處處忍讓，上朝的日子故意裝病在家，以免與廉頗引起爭執(zhí)。
有一天，藺相如出門，遠遠看見廉頗的馬車迎面駛來，他吩咐仆人把車子調(diào)轉方向，避開廉頗。身邊的人都說他太膽小了，藺相如一笑，問大家：“你們看廉將軍與秦王哪個厲害？”大家異口同聲地說：“那當然是秦王厲害啦。”藺相如又道：“我敢在秦國當眾呵斥秦王，又怎會偏偏怕廉將軍呢？只是我想到，強秦不敢侵趙，是因為有我們兩個人在，我們兩人要是爭斗起來，敵人就要來鉆空子。我不能忘掉國家的安危?。 ?BR> 這些話傳到廉頗的耳朵里，廉頗很慚愧，于是光著脊背，背著荊條，到藺相如府上請罪。
Explanation：
To offer a sincere apology.
Story：
During the Warring States Period the king of the State of Qin invited the king of the State of Zhao to a meeting in the territory of Qin. At a banquet in honor of his guest， the king of Qin asked the king of Zhao to play the zither. Although， this was a most humiliating request， the king of Zhao dared not refuse.
Lin Xiangru， a senior official of Zhao， who had accompanied his master to Qin， was outraged. So he picked up a large jar， strode up to the king of Qin with it and insisted that he play it like a drum. Intimidated by the fierce Lin， the king of Qin reluctantly struck the jar with his hand once. Thereupon， the assembled ministers of Qin demanded that Zhao hand over 15 cities to Qin in compensation for Lin Xiangru's offense. But Lin coolly demanded that Qin present its capital Xanyang to the king of Zhao as a forfeit for the king of Qin's insult to his visitor. The result was a stalemate， but the king of Zhao's face had been saved. In gratitude， the king promoted Lin Xiangru to the post of grand vizier.
This honor done to Lin Yiangru， however， aroused the resentment of Lian Po， the commander-in-chief of the Zhao army. Lian Po grumbled， "I reached my position after risking my life in battle after battle. Yet this fellow Lin Yiangru climbs right to the top of the tree just through talking！ I am determined to humiliate this upstart in public as soon as I meet him." When this threat was conveyed to Lin Xiangru he shut himself up indoors， pretending to be ill， so as to avoid meeting Lian Po.
One day Lin Xiangru went out in his carriage. Seeing Lian Po's carriage coming from the opposite direction， he ordered his driver to turn around to avoid a confrontation with Lian Po. This caused his acquaintances to mock him as a coward. But Lin Xiangru said to them： "Who do you think is more powerful， General Lian or the king of Qin？" "The king of Qin， of course，" they replied. Then Lin continued， "You remember that I dared to upbraid the king of Qin public within his own domain， so how could I fear General Lian？ The fact is that the only thing that deters Qin from invading Zhao is the presence of General Lian at the head of our army and myself at the head of the administration. If we two were at loggerheads Qin might be tempted to invade. I cannot risk the safety of the state for my own petty pride."
When these words were conveyed to Lian Po he was overcome with remorse. He straightaway gathered up a bundle of wooden sticks， tied them onto his naked back and appeared before Lin Xiangru in an attitude of humble apology.
負荊請罪
解釋：
背著荊條請罪，表示主動向對方賠禮認錯。
故事：
戰(zhàn)國時，趙國有一個足智多謀的上大夫藺相如，還有一個英勇善戰(zhàn)的大將軍廉頗。有一年，秦王邀請趙王到澠池相會。酒宴上，秦王請趙王彈瑟。趙王彈了一曲。
作陪的藺相如心想，必須為趙王爭回面子，于是捧起一個缸，走到秦王面前說：“大王擅長秦樂，請大王一擊，以相娛樂?！痹谔A相如的強逼下，秦王勉強在缸上擊了一下。秦國的大臣氣得大叫：“請趙國割讓出十五座城作為向秦王的獻禮！”藺相如也高喊：“請秦國把首都咸陽作為向趙王的獻禮！”秦國始終沒能占到半點便宜。事后，趙王封藺相如為上大夫。
廉頗很不服氣，他對人說：“我出生入死，立了許多戰(zhàn)功，而藺相如只憑三寸不爛之舌，就官居我之上。倘若給我遇見，我一定要當面羞辱他?！碧A相如聽說以后處處忍讓，上朝的日子故意裝病在家，以免與廉頗引起爭執(zhí)。
有一天，藺相如出門，遠遠看見廉頗的馬車迎面駛來，他吩咐仆人把車子調(diào)轉方向，避開廉頗。身邊的人都說他太膽小了，藺相如一笑，問大家：“你們看廉將軍與秦王哪個厲害？”大家異口同聲地說：“那當然是秦王厲害啦。”藺相如又道：“我敢在秦國當眾呵斥秦王，又怎會偏偏怕廉將軍呢？只是我想到，強秦不敢侵趙，是因為有我們兩個人在，我們兩人要是爭斗起來，敵人就要來鉆空子。我不能忘掉國家的安危?。 ?BR> 這些話傳到廉頗的耳朵里，廉頗很慚愧，于是光著脊背，背著荊條，到藺相如府上請罪。