During the Western Han Dynasty, the writer Zou Yang was known for his essays that carried the persuasive, freewheeling style of Warring States traveling scholars.
Zou Yang initially served under Liu Bi, the Prince of Wu and nephew of Emperor Gaozu of Han. When Liu Bi conspired with six other princes to rebel, Zou Yang wrote a memorial titled "Letter to the Prince of Wu" urging him to reconsider, but Liu Bi ignored the advice, prompting Zou Yang to defect to Liu Wu, the Prince of Liang. Soon after, Liu Bi was defeated by Grand Commandant Zhou Yafu's forces, fled to Dongyue, and was killed by the Dongyue people.
Zou Yang, a man of both eloquence and literary talent, had barely arrived at the court of King Xiao of Liang when he incurred the jealousy of the king's close advisors, Yang Sheng and Gongsun Gui, who slandered him relentlessly. Enraged, King Xiao threw Zou Yang into prison and prepared to execute him.
One day, Zou Yang sat in a corner of his prison cell, staring at the shackles on his wrists and ankles, and as he thought about how he would soon be unjustly executed, tears streamed down his face.
Outside the window, a bright moon hung in the sky.
“King Liang, my loyalty to the court is as clear as the bright moon—why do you believe the slander of petty men? I will write to you to express my earnest desire to serve the nation!” Zou Yang thought.
He picked up his brush and wrote over a thousand words, beginning with Jing Ke and listing many loyal officials in history who were unjustly suspected by their rulers and met tragic fates.
He wrote: 'The moonlit pearl and the night-glowing jade are rare treasures of the world, yet if you hurl them at a passerby in the dark, any passerby will grip his sword and glare at you sideways, because they came to him without reason. But a twisted tree root can be carved into imperial gifts and playthings for the emperor, because his attendants have already adorned and polished it. Thus, what comes without reason—even precious pearls and jade—incurs resentment and goes unvalued; but what is praised and promoted—even withered wood and rotten stumps—finds favor and is never forgotten. Now, a talented man willing to serve his country with loyalty, if no one recommends him, the ruler will grip his sword and glare at him sideways, causing him to lose the chance to serve the throne as even a withered stump might.'
After reading the letter, King Xiao of Liang was deeply moved and immediately ordered Zou Yang's release, granting him the status of an honored guest.
Later, the idiom "withered trees and rotten stumps" came to describe useless people or things, and could also be used as a humble self-reference.
Source: *Selections of Refined Literature*, Zou Yang's "Letter to the King of Liang from Prison"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "枯木朽株" came to describe useless people or things, and could also be used as a humble self-reference.