During the final years of Wang Mang's reign, uprisings erupted across the land, and Gongsun Shu was one of the rebel leaders. Under the Xin dynasty, he served as the governor of Shu Commandery, but seizing the chaos, he raised an army, occupied Yizhou, and declared himself emperor.
Meanwhile, the Gansu region was controlled by the local strongman Wei Xiao, who, feeling his position weak and needing external support, sent his general Ma Yuan to assess the situation with Gongsun Shu in neighboring Sichuan.
Ma Yuan, a man of great ambition, once fled to the northern frontier after releasing a group of prisoners out of compassion. When later pardoned, he stayed to herd cattle, using his wealth to help the poor and earning widespread respect. After serving as Wang Mang's governor of Hanzhong, he joined his brother in Xizhou following Wang Mang's fall. The warlord Wei Xiao, impressed by Ma Yuan's talents, appointed him General of Suide and invited him to plan military strategies together.
When Ma Yuan arrived in Sichuan with a few attendants, he expected a warm welcome from his old neighbor Gongsun Shu, who had declared himself emperor. Instead, Ma Yuan found himself led through heavily guarded palace gates and finally into the grand hall. After the formal greetings, Gongsun Shu immediately sent Ma Yuan to a guesthouse, ordered new local clothes made for him, and announced plans to formally establish his old friend's rank at a ceremony in the ancestral temple before the assembled officials.
On the appointed day, Gongsun Shu put on a grand imperial display: phoenix banners led the procession, followed by the emperor's thirty-six subordinate carriages. Everywhere Gongsun Shu passed, guards enforced strict security, barring commoners from the roads. Gongsun Shu then proudly mounted the imperial chariot, bending solemnly like a curved stone chime as he took his seat. At the ancestral temple, after completing the sacrificial rites, he hosted a lavish banquet for all the guests, intending to bestow upon Ma Yuan the title of marquis and the high rank of general.
Many guests were drawn to the spectacle and willing to stay, but Ma Yuan advised them, "With the world's fate still undecided, Lord Gongsun is not welcoming wise men with the spirit of a true leader who would spit out his meal to receive guests. Instead, he busies himself with trivial decorations, like a puppet with only the appearance of life. How can such a man long retain the loyalty of the realm's finest talents?" He firmly declined Gongsun Shu's offer to remain.
Ma Yuan returned and said to Wei Xiao, "Gongsun Shu is nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well, yet he arrogantly thinks himself great. I see we cannot rely on him; we should focus our efforts on seeking a worthy ally in the east."
Unfortunately, due to various reasons, Wei Xiao ultimately chose to ally with Gongsun Shu. As expected, both Wei Xiao and Gongsun Shu were later conquered by Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu.
Later, "trimming the edges" came to describe focusing on surface details rather than the big picture.
Source: *Book of the Later Han*, "Biography of Ma Yuan"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "修饰边幅" came to describe focusing on surface details rather than the big picture.