Zhao Yi, a renowned Han Dynasty poet known for his towering stature, magnificent beard, and fierce eyebrows, was so proud and brilliant that his own village shunned him. After repeated persecutions that nearly landed him in prison, only the rescue of friends saved him from dying behind bars.
At that time, power was monopolized by aristocratic clans, and politics were dark and corrupt. Zhao Yi wrote "Satire Against the World and Its Evils" to express his indignation. He wrote:
"The world is full of corruption—flattery and sycophancy grow stronger by the day, while integrity fades away. Those who shamelessly curry favor are rewarded, riding in carriages, while virtuous and upright scholars are left to walk on foot. The wicked rise to power, yet the righteous remain unknown, even inviting disaster upon themselves."
Tracing the root of these ills, Zhao Yi declared, "It lies in unwise rulers and eunuchs in power. If they favor someone, even a tattered hide is said to grow fine feathers; if they despise someone, they scrub away every stain, hunting for a scar." He lamented, "Laws cannot reach the powerful clans, and commoners cannot receive the emperor's grace. I would rather starve in the famine years of Yao and Shun than live full and warm for half a year in today's world. To follow heaven's way is to live even in death; to defy righteousness is to die even in life." Later, officials Yuan Feng and Yang Zhi recognized his talent and recommended him together. Zhao Yi became the talk of the capital, with prefectures and counties vying to honor him and the court summoning him ten times—but he refused all, living out his days in obscurity, preserving his noble character. The idiom "scrubbing for scars" came to mean nitpicking others' faults. Source: *Book of the Later Han*, "Biography of Zhao Yi"
Source: *Book of the Later Han*, "Biography of Zhao Yi"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "洗垢求瘢" came to describe how nitpicking others' faults.