Mingshan Bin, a scholar-official during the Liang Dynasty of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, spent years as an academic instructor. His profound knowledge deeply benefited the Confucian students who studied under him. Moreover, he was an approachable man who treated his pupils warmly, never putting on airs of authority, which made him beloved by all.
Ming Shanbin once served as a local official. When a famine struck Pinglu County under his jurisdiction, leaving the people without food, he opened the official granaries to distribute relief. Later, when a superior inspected and found the granaries severely depleted, Ming was held accountable and his residence was confiscated by the state. Without offering any defense, he quietly bought land to build a new house, but ran out of money before it was finished. When Crown Prince Xiao Tong of the Liang Dynasty heard of this, he composed a poem praising Ming's virtue.
Shan Bin was an extremely honest man. When his family fell into hardship, he took an ox to market to sell. After receiving payment, he sincerely told the buyer, "This ox once suffered from a hoof disease. It was cured long ago, but it might recur, so I must tell you." Upon hearing this, the buyer immediately demanded his money back.
At that time, a hermit named Ruan Xiaoxu heard of Ming Shanbin's deeds and praised, "Ming Shanbin is enough to make people return to simplicity." Later, "return to simplicity" came to describe reverting to one's original honest and simple nature.
Source: *Book of Liang*, "Biography of Ming Shanbin"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "还淳反朴" came to describe reverting to one's original honest and simple nature.