During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, a man named Jing Zhen was both learned and an expert horseman and archer. His cousin Jing Xiang loved befriending heroes and bold warriors. The two shared the same ambitions and often gathered to discuss the affairs of the state.
During the Northern Wei dynasty, Emperor Xiaowu, unable to bear the oppression of Prime Minister Gao Huan, fled the capital Luoyang to seek refuge with General Yuwen Tai in Chang'an. Yuwen Tai supported the emperor against Gao Huan, establishing Western Wei, while Gao Huan installed Emperor Xiaojing and moved the capital from Luoyang to Ye, founding Eastern Wei.
During the Western Wei Dynasty, Yuwen Tai implemented sweeping reforms to strengthen the state and enrich its people: he streamlined the bureaucracy, equalized taxes and labor duties, and promoted talented and virtuous officials. He strictly forbade official corruption, and when his own brother-in-law, Wang Chaoshi, was found guilty of embezzlement, Yuwen Tai had him executed according to the law. Under his governance, the Western Wei gradually grew powerful and prosperous.
During the constant wars between Eastern Wei and Western Wei, Jing Zhen said to his brother Jing Xiang, "Now is the time for men of insight to serve their country—you and I should act." Jing Xiang asked, "What do you have in mind?" Jing Zhen replied, "Gao Huan forced Emperor Xiaowu into exile; who wouldn't want to stab him with a knife? Chancellor Yuwen Tai is generous and magnanimous, with the ambition of a true king—let us go and join him."
Jing Zhen agreed with his brother's plan, so the two recruited soldiers and horses, and when the Western Wei general Li Bi's army advanced east of the Yellow River, they led their troops along with over 100,000 households from six counties to defect to Western Wei. Upon meeting them, the Western Wei prime minister Yuwen Tai was overjoyed. He clasped Jing Zhen's hand and said, "You two brothers have lifted my worries about the eastern frontier." He then appointed Jing Zhen as the governor of Pingyang, Jing Xiang as a General of the Soaring Dragon, and bestowed upon each of them a ceremonial band.
The idiom "broad benevolence and great magnanimity" describes someone who is generous, kind-hearted, and open-minded.
Source: *Book of Zhou*, "Biography of Jing Zhen"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "宽仁大度" came to describe someone who is generous, kind-hearted, and open-minded.