During the Spring and Autumn period, when the state of Wu launched an invasion that threatened to annihilate Chu, Shen Baoxu, a retired Chu official who had long since withdrawn from public life, heard the news and vowed to save his homeland.
Shen Baoxu realized that King Zhao of Chu was the nephew of Duke Ai of Qin, so the only way to save Chu was to seek help from Duke Ai. He immediately traveled to the state of Qin and pleaded for military assistance. However, Duke Ai of Qin refused, saying, "Our Qin is in a remote western border region with few troops and generals; we can barely manage our own affairs, let alone send an army to rescue Chu."
Upon hearing this, Shen Baoxu knelt and pleaded, “Your Majesty, Qin and Chu share a border like lips and teeth—if Wu destroys Chu, they will surely not spare Qin. Please reconsider!” Duke Ai of Qin hesitated, replying, “Rest at the guesthouse first; let me discuss this with my ministers.” Shen Baoxu wept, “My king has fled to the State of Sui—how can I rest peacefully in a guesthouse?”
Duke Ai of Qin dismissed Shen Baoxu from court, refusing to listen further. Undeterred, Shen Baoxu stood in the Qin court and wept aloud, crying for seven days and seven nights without eating a single grain of rice or drinking a drop of water.
On the eighth day, Duke Ai of Qin was finally moved by the plea and dispatched generals Zipu and Zihu with troops to rescue Chu, defeating the Wu forces and escorting King Zhao of Chu back to Yingcheng.
Later, the idiom "Weeping at the Qin Court" came to describe sincere pleas for aid or national salvation, as well as extreme grief.
Source: *Zuo Zhuan*, "Duke Ding, Fourth Year"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "秦庭之哭" came to describe how sincere pleas for aid or national salvation, as well as extreme grief.