📖 Meaning
To assess someone's contributions and grant them a noble title or rank accordingly. The character 受 here means to bestow or confer. It describes a merit-based system of rewarding officials with titles commensurate with their achievements.
📜 Origin Story
This phrase originates from a memorial titled 'Let the Nine Bestowals Table' (让九锡表) written by Cao Cao during the Three Kingdoms period (Wei dynasty, 3rd century CE). Cao Cao wrote the memorial to formally decline the 'Nine Bestowals' (九锡), an extraordinary set of imperial gifts signifying near-supreme authority. In it, he argued that official positions should be assigned based on ability and noble ranks granted based on measured merit, warning that accepting honors one cannot live up to would lead to ruin.
💡 Example Usage
朝廷一向计功受爵，有功之臣皆得封赏。
The imperial court has always granted noble titles based on merit, so all officials with achievements receive appropriate rewards.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 计功受爵
- Pinyin: jì gōng shòu jué
- Literal Translation: calculate, merit, bestow, noble rank
- Category: Leadership
- Characters: 4