During the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, a man named Cui Shi from Zhuo Commandery, born into a family of great Confucian scholars, loved studying classical texts and wrote dozens of essays titled *Political Discourses*, critiquing the governance of his time.
People of the time found his reasoning quite sound. By then, the Han Dynasty had existed for over 350 years, with deep-seated problems accumulating. Cui Shi argued that to revive the Han court, laws should be crafted based on current realities to address urgent issues, thus mending flaws and saving the era, without rigidly copying the methods of ancient sage-kings Yao and Shun.
When Cui Shi had the chance to put his ideals into practice, he did just that. As governor of Wuyuan, he found the land perfect for growing hemp, yet the locals had never learned to weave—every winter, they huddled in straw, shivering without clothes. Cui Shi immediately ordered looms built, taught the people to spin and weave, and soon everyone had warm garments. He also drilled the troops and fortified the border watch, keeping the northern tribes at bay. Wuyuan became the most peaceful frontier town.
"Zheng" and "ji" both mean to rescue or aid. Later, the idiom "Ji Shi Zheng Shi" came to describe saving the times and the world.
Source: *Book of the Later Han*, "Biography of Cui Yin"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "济时拯世" came to describe how saving the times and the world.