Yin Zhongkan, a Jin Dynasty noble from Chen Commandery, was so brilliant that he could recite the *Tao Te Ching* backwards from memory. His family claimed that if he went three days without reading it, his tongue would stiffen and he couldn't speak properly—a tale that spread far and wide. His sharp insights into morality and elegant writing earned him fame alongside the scholar Han Kangbo, drawing admiration from sages everywhere. The court later appointed him as a compiler of the national history.
At the time, General Xie Xuan was stationed in Jingkou. He greatly valued Yin Zhongkan and offered him an official post, but Yin refused. Xie Xuan then appointed him as Chief Clerk (equivalent to a chancellor's secretary), yet Yin declined again. In a letter to Xie Xuan, Yin Zhongkan poured out his heartfelt sorrow over the war's devastation, which tore families apart, and urged that benevolence and righteousness be spread across the land. He wrote, "Only when borders are free from greedy gains and the strong do not bully the weak can we stop worrying about crossing the Yellow River or opening the Hangu Pass." Moved by these words, Xie Xuan respected Yin even more, adopted his advice, and Yin Zhongkan finally agreed to serve as the Governor of Jinling.
Upon taking office, Yin Zhongkan strictly ordered the rectification of local customs. Any case of abandoning a newborn or leaving the dead unburied for too long would be investigated and punished. Every decree he issued combined reason with righteousness, winning the people's hearts. As a result, Jinling developed a culture of respecting the elderly and cherishing the young, becoming renowned as a land of propriety and virtue.
Some time later, Yin Zhongkan's father fell ill with a strange condition: the slightest sound seemed like the clash of battling bulls, and he grew weaker until bedridden, with no cure found. Desperate, Yin Zhongkan decided to study medicine himself, researching day and night. For years, he never undressed while caring for his father, often weeping as he handed him medicine. This devotion cost him an eye, but his filial piety became renowned. After his father's death, Emperor Xiaowu appointed him as an imperial advisor, and they grew very close.
Emperor Xiaowu later heard of this strange illness. One day, he asked Yin Zhongkan, "Who is the person suffering from this illness?" Yin Zhongkan, with a sorrowful face and tears streaming down, replied, "He is my father. I lack the ability to cure his illness!"
Emperor Xiaowu let out a soft sigh, feeling a pang of guilt for not understanding the matter himself.
Soon after, Yin Zhongkan was reassigned as an Imperial Attendant, and the emperor's favor toward him grew daily. Later, he was appointed Military Commander of Jing, Yi, and Ning Provinces, General of Prestigious Might, and Governor of Jingzhou, tasked with garrisoning Jiangling. As Yin prepared to depart, Emperor Xiaowu, reluctant to part, issued a farewell decree: "Your leaving me fills my heart with deep sorrow. I always thought you would forever be a gem of the capital, yet now you have suddenly become a pearl of Jingchu. For this, I long feel regret and lament!"
During his tenure as an official, Yin Zhongkan governed with such clarity and fairness that the people lived in peace and contentment, earning him widespread acclaim for his achievements.
Later, the idiom "sleeping fully clothed" came to describe not taking off one's clothes to sleep.
Source: *Book of Jin*, "Biography of Yin Zhongkan"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "衣不解带" came to describe how not taking off one's clothes to sleep.