During the Warring States period, there was a famous thinker and politician named Mencius. He devoted his entire life to promoting "benevolent governance" and "kingly way." People regarded him as the successor of the sage Confucius's teachings and called him the "Second Sage."
That year, the ruler of the Song state declared he would practice benevolent governance. Hearing this, Mencius traveled tirelessly to the Song capital, Pengcheng (modern-day Xuzhou). After some time, however, Mencius observed that King Yan of Song was accomplishing little, with few worthy advisors and many mediocrities around him. Greatly disappointed, he prepared to journey to another state.
King Yan of Song heard that Mencius was leaving and quickly sent his minister Dai Busheng to persuade him to stay. Dai Busheng said to Mencius, "I have a friend named Xue Juzhou, a well-known good man. I want to recommend him to the king so he can influence him. Do you think this will bring great prospects to the state of Song?"
Mencius thought for a moment, smiled, and told Dai Busheng a story:
A nobleman of the Chu state desperately wanted his son to speak the Qi dialect, so he hired a tutor from Qi. But the boy simply could not learn. Enraged, the father whipped him daily, forcing him to speak Qi, yet the son, despite suffering terribly, still failed.
Later, the Chu official realized that although his son had a Qi tutor, he was constantly disturbed by many Chu people around him (as the saying goes, "one Qi man teaches him, while many Chu men babble around him"); he was learning the Qi language, but in daily life he interacted only with Chu people and used only Chu speech—so how could he possibly learn Qi well?
So, he simply asked the man from Qi to take his son back to the Qi state for a few years. Eventually, his son learned to speak fluent Qi dialect.
After telling this story, Mencius said to Dai Busheng:
Mencius argued, "You say Xue Juzhou is a good man and should influence the ruler. But if everyone around the ruler were already good, who could lead him to do wrong? On the other hand, if those surrounding him are all bad, even a virtuous man like Xue Juzhou would be powerless. How could the ruler avoid doing evil?"
Mencius placed great importance on the influence of environment, recognizing that "one teacher, many hecklers" leads to no achievement. He politely declined Dai Busheng's invitation to stay and left the state of Song. Later, people used the idiom "one teacher, many hecklers" to describe an inability to succeed, also indicating that environment greatly impacts people.
Source: *Mencius*, Chapter "Teng Wen Gong II"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "一傅众咻" came to describe an inability to succeed, also indicating that environment greatly impacts people.