Chen Shi was a renowned scholar-official during the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling in the Eastern Han Dynasty, having served as the magistrate of Taiqiu County, where his integrity and dedication earned the deep trust of the people.
Chen Shi lived a very frugal life. His household had no servants. Once, when Chen Shi went out on business, his eldest son Yuanfang pulled the cart in front, while his youngest son Jifang followed behind with a staff. Passersby praised them, respectfully calling them the "Three Gentlemen."
During the era of eunuch tyranny, Chen Shi watched helplessly as many of his relatives and friends were unjustly imprisoned. To protest, he voluntarily surrendered himself to jail. His sons, Yuanfang and Jifang, then shut their doors to all visitors, cutting off ties with the outside world. In seclusion, they devoted themselves to writing, completing a monumental work of tens of thousands of words titled *The Chenzi*.
Later, Chen Shi was released from prison. The powerful General-in-Chief He Jin, admiring his reputation, invited him to take an official post, but Chen Shi politely declined. His two sons also repeatedly refused offers of appointment, unwilling to serve in government.
Yuan Fang's son, Zhang Wen, and Ji Fang's son, Xiao Xian, were both highly talented and learned. The two cousins loved to boast about their own fathers, often arguing fiercely, each insisting their father was superior, their faces flushed with the heat of debate.
One day, the two argued again, neither willing to concede, so they asked their grandfather Chen Shi to judge. Chen Shi said without hesitation, "Yuanfang is hard to be the elder brother, Jifang is hard to be the younger brother."
It means: Although Yuanfang is the elder brother and Jifang the younger in birth order, in terms of moral character and learning, they are equally matched.
Later, the idiom "brothers in hardship" came to describe two people sharing a difficult situation, or to mock both as equally bad.
Source: *A New Account of the Tales of the World*, Chapter "Virtuous Conduct"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "难兄难弟" came to describe how two people sharing a difficult situation, or to mock both as equally bad.