During the Western Han Dynasty, a man named Zhao Yu served as an assistant to Grand Commandant Zhou Yafu. By chance, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, came across an essay Zhao Yu had written. Impressed by its sharp prose and profound insights, the emperor remarked, "Few in this era can match his talent."
Emperor Wu of Han was so impressed with Zhao Yu that he appointed him as an imperial censor, later promoting him to Grand Master of the Palace, tasking him alongside Grand Master Zhang Tang with drafting the nation's laws.
To ensure strict adherence to the laws governing officials, Emperor Wu of Han ordered a comprehensive revision and expansion of the existing legal codes.
Many officials at the time hoped Zhao Yu would show leniency and leave some wiggle room in the legal code, so they repeatedly invited him and Zhang Tang to banquets, but Zhao Yu never returned the favor. After several such occasions, many complained that he was putting on airs and looking down on them.
After careful consideration and study, Zhao Yu and Zhang Tang decided to establish laws such as "knowing a crime but not reporting it" and "officials implicated for their subordinates' crimes" to restrain officials from acting recklessly.
When news spread, officials rushed to persuade the high-ranking ministers to advise Zhao Yu against making the laws too harsh.
When high-ranking officials arrived at Zhao Yu's home bearing lavish gifts, they expected to discuss revising the legal code. Instead, Zhao Yu chatted idly about everything under the sun, completely ignoring their hints. Eventually, the officials gave up and rose to leave—but before they departed, Zhao Yu firmly returned every single gift they had brought.
Only then did people truly recognize Zhao Yu as an exceptionally upright and incorruptible official. When someone asked him, "Don't you care what others think of you because of this?" Zhao Yu simply replied, "I act according to the law, not according to people's opinions."
Zhao Yu declared, "By cutting off all requests from friends and guests, I ensure I can make decisions independently, act according to my own will, and remain free from outside interference." The idiom "Going One's Own Way" later came to describe someone who stubbornly follows their own ideas, makes arbitrary decisions, and refuses to listen to others' advice.
Source: *Records of the Grand Historian*, "Biography of Cruel Officials"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "一意孤行" came to describe how someone stubbornly follows their own ideas, makes arbitrary decisions, and refuses to listen to others' advice.