During the Western Han Dynasty, Zou Yang, a native of Qi, traveled to Liang. There, someone slandered him before King Xiao of Liang. Enraged, the king ordered Zou Yang arrested and imprisoned, preparing to execute him.
Zou Yang, feeling deeply wronged, wrote a letter to King Xiao of Liang from prison. This is the famous "Letter from Prison to Declare Innocence." At the beginning of the letter, he wrote:
"I originally believed that treating others with sincerity would prevent suspicion, but now I have been falsely accused for no reason, shaking my original conviction."
Then, he gave several examples to illustrate his point.
“Jing Ke admired Prince Dan of Yan’s noble righteousness and risked death to assassinate the King of Qin for him—truly a spirit that spanned the heavens. Yet because Jing Ke waited for a friend to accompany him, Prince Dan mistakenly thought Jing Ke was afraid and had delayed the departure.”
"Bian He found a piece of jade and sincerely offered it to the King of Chu, but the king, believing slanderous rumors, insisted it was just an ordinary stone, accused him of deceiving the sovereign, and ordered his foot cut off.
"Li Si, the Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty, did his utmost to assist Qin Shi Huang in reforming governance, making great contributions to Qin's strength. Yet, the Second Emperor Hu Hai had him executed."
"Furthermore, Jizi of Yin-Shang feigned madness to escape death after seeing his uncle Bigan executed by King Zhou for remonstration; Jieyu of Chu fled into the mountains when King Chu ignored his advice. Both were forced to act this way out of fear of disaster!"
As the saying goes, 'Some grow old together yet remain strangers, while others meet by chance and become friends at first sight.' Why is this? It is not about the length of time spent together, but about whether true understanding exists between them.
After reading Zou Yang's letter, Prince Xiao of Liang was deeply moved and immediately ordered his release from prison, honoring him as a most esteemed guest.
Later, the idiom "White Hair, Still Strangers" came to describe people who have known each other for a long time but remain as unfamiliar as new acquaintances, indicating a lack of deep understanding.
Source: *Records of the Grand Historian*, "Biographies of Lu Zhonglian and Zou Yang"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "白头如新" came to describe people who have known each other for a long time but remain as unfamiliar as new acquaintances, indicating a lack of deep understanding.