Deng You, styled Bole, was a renowned upright official of the Jin Dynasty. Orphaned at seven or eight, he grew up alongside his younger brother.
When Deng You came of age, he sought a position under the military governor Jia Hun. Jia Hun handed him a legal case to handle. Deng You replied, "Confucius said, 'In hearing lawsuits, I am no better than others; what I truly desire is to make lawsuits unnecessary.' I wish to follow the path of the sage." In other words, he wanted to be an educator, not a judge. Jia Hun returned home and told his wife, "Today I met a clear-minded and upright scholar." His wife listened closely and suggested inviting the young man to their home for a meeting.
The wife, upon meeting Deng You, said joyfully to her husband, "In these chaotic times, it's rare to find someone as upright and pure as Deng You. Let's betroth our daughter to him."
During the Yongjia era of Emperor Huai of Jin, when the Later Zhao warlord Shi Le captured Hedong Commandery, its governor Deng You and his entire family were taken prisoner. Impressed by Deng You's literary talent, Shi Le spared his life and ordered him to serve in the camp, awaiting summons.
Shi Le enforced military discipline with extreme severity, especially forbidding fires in camp at night. During a troop relocation, officers traveled with their families in covered wagons. One night, a fire broke out in the wagon next to Deng You's. The owner, a foreigner, feared harsh punishment and falsely accused Deng You's wagon of starting the blaze, claiming it spread to his own. Both wagons were destroyed. Realizing he could not escape blame, Deng You took sole responsibility, explaining that he had been drafting documents late into the night, grew too tired to be careful, and his candle flame ignited his bedding, which then spread to the neighboring wagon.
Shi Le pardoned the two families for their fire-starting crime. The Hu people, both grateful and ashamed, presented Deng You with over a dozen horses as repayment.
During a night march across the Sishui River for battle, Shi Le's forces moved at breakneck speed. Seizing the moment, Deng You quickly helped his family mount horses and escape along a small path.
At daybreak, a band of bandits burst from the woods, scattering Deng You's family in all directions. Deng You and his wife, clutching both their son and nephew, fled on two horses, racing for their lives—but the horses galloped so hard they collapsed and died by the roadside.
"Before we can escape the Stone Leopard camp, we could be caught at any moment. My nephew and son are both too young to walk, so I have to carry one on my back. Carrying one child is manageable, but two would doom us all. My younger brother died of illness last year, and we must preserve his lineage. To survive, we have to abandon our own son and carry my nephew instead. Once we find a safe place, we can have more children." His virtuous wife, Jia, nodded with tears in her eyes.
Deng You finally returned to Jiangnan. Emperor Yuan of Jin always valued him, but he and his wife never had a second child. Everyone sighed, "Heaven is unjust, leaving Deng Bodao without a son." Meaning: Heaven has no eyes, letting such a good man as Deng Bodao have no descendants!
Later, the idiom "Bo Dao Has No Son" came to describe sympathy for someone without descendants.
Source: *Book of Jin*, "Biography of Deng You"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "伯道无儿" came to describe how sympathy for someone without descendants.