In the fifth year of Duke Xian of Jin's reign, the state of Jin attacked the Li Rong tribe to the west and captured a beautiful woman named Li Ji, whom the duke took as his wife. Seven years later, Li Ji gave birth to a son named Xi Qi. The duke doted on Li Ji and thus wished to depose the crown prince in favor of Xi Qi.
Duke Xian of Jin had eight sons. His heir, Crown Prince Shensheng, born to a daughter of Duke Huan of Qi, along with his half-brothers Yiwu and Chong'er, were all known for their virtue. Initially, the duke trusted these three sons deeply, but after acquiring the concubine Li Ji, he grew distant from them. To install Li Ji's son, Xiqi, as his heir, Duke Xian found an excuse to send the three sons away to the cities of Wo, Pu, and Qu, while he himself remained with Li Ji and Xiqi in the capital, Jiang.
Many ministers of the Jin state saw that Duke Xian intended to depose the crown prince, so they all turned to curry favor with Xiqi. Only the minister Li Ke still respected the powerless crown prince Shensheng. The performer You Shi composed a song to advise Li Ke, which included these two lines:
"Everyone gathers in the lush garden, but you alone gather among the withered branches."
Gather: birds perching in trees. Grove: lush trees. "Gather in the grove, gather on withered branches" means everyone sided with the powerful Xiqi, except Li Ke who remained loyal to Shensheng. Later, this idiom describes different aspirations and divergent inclinations.
Source: *Guoyu*, Chapter "Discourses of Jin II"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "集苑集枯" came to describe how different aspirations and divergent inclinations.