There was a state called zhou in the chinese history.

One day, the king of zhou asked his officials for advice on deal with prisoners of war.

An official said, "i once heard if you love someone, you are intended to love even the crows on the roof of his house; if you hate someone, you are intended to hate even the walls and the parapets of his. The prisoners of war were enemies fighting against us. In my opinion, we'd better kill them all."

But the king didn't agree with him."I think we should treat the prisoners of war differently by differing them into those who are guilty and those who are not. The guilty ones will be sentenced to death in order to avoid future disasters." Another official put forward his suggestion.

The king didn't think it was a proper way, either.

Then a third one said, "Your majesty, I think all the prisoners should be set free and sent back home to work in the fields and support themselves by their own labor. Moreover, you should keep strictly the rules for reward and punishment and treat your relatives and friends impartially.The people are sure to believe in you if you administer our country by morals and laws."

The king thought the official's proposal was quite reasonable so he accepted and followed it.As a result, the domestic situation soon settled down and gradually the country became more stable and stronger.

The idiom is then used to mean that if you love someone,you'll love people and things relative to him as well.

中國歷史上有一個國家名叫“周”。

一天，周王問他的官員，應該怎樣處理戰俘。

一個官員說：“我以前曾聽說：如果喜歡某個人，就連停留在那人住的屋頂上的烏鴉都喜歡;如果厭惡某個人，就連那人家里的墻壁和圍墻都厭惡。戰俘是我們的敵人，和我們是對立的，我覺得最好把他們全部殺了。”

周王認為這樣做不行。另外一個官員也提出了自己的意見：“依我看應該把戰俘區分對待，把有罪的和無罪的、好的和壞的區分開來。有罪的戰俘要處死，不能留下禍患。”

周王認為這樣做也不大妥當。

接著，又有一個官員說：“大王，我認為應該把這些戰俘全都放了，讓他們回到自己的家里，耕種田地，自食其力。而大王對自己的親人和朋友，也要賞罰分明，不能偏心。通過道德和法律來治理國家，人民肯定會對大王信服的。”

周王聽后覺得很有道理，就按這個辦法去做，結果國家真的很快安定下來了，變得越來越穩定和強大。

成語“愛屋及烏”后來就被用來比喻：因為喜愛一個人，連帶和他有關的人或事物也喜愛、關心。

There was a state called zhou in the chinese history.

One day, the king of zhou asked his officials for advice on deal with prisoners of war.

An official said, "i once heard if you love someone, you are intended to love even the crows on the roof of his house; if you hate someone, you are intended to hate even the walls and the parapets of his. The prisoners of war were enemies fighting against us. In my opinion, we'd better kill them all."

But the king didn't agree with him."I think we should treat the prisoners of war differently by differing them into those who are guilty and those who are not. The guilty ones will be sentenced to death in order to avoid future disasters." Another official put forward his suggestion.

The king didn't think it was a proper way, either.

Then a third one said, "Your majesty, I think all the prisoners should be set free and sent back home to work in the fields and support themselves by their own labor. Moreover, you should keep strictly the rules for reward and punishment and treat your relatives and friends impartially.The people are sure to believe in you if you administer our country by morals and laws."

The king thought the official's proposal was quite reasonable so he accepted and followed it.As a result, the domestic situation soon settled down and gradually the country became more stable and stronger.

The idiom is then used to mean that if you love someone,you'll love people and things relative to him as well.

中國歷史上有一個國家名叫“周”。

一天，周王問他的官員，應該怎樣處理戰俘。

一個官員說：“我以前曾聽說：如果喜歡某個人，就連停留在那人住的屋頂上的烏鴉都喜歡;如果厭惡某個人，就連那人家里的墻壁和圍墻都厭惡。戰俘是我們的敵人，和我們是對立的，我覺得最好把他們全部殺了。”

周王認為這樣做不行。另外一個官員也提出了自己的意見：“依我看應該把戰俘區分對待，把有罪的和無罪的、好的和壞的區分開來。有罪的戰俘要處死，不能留下禍患。”

周王認為這樣做也不大妥當。

接著，又有一個官員說：“大王，我認為應該把這些戰俘全都放了，讓他們回到自己的家里，耕種田地，自食其力。而大王對自己的親人和朋友，也要賞罰分明，不能偏心。通過道德和法律來治理國家，人民肯定會對大王信服的。”

周王聽后覺得很有道理，就按這個辦法去做，結果國家真的很快安定下來了，變得越來越穩定和強大。

成語“愛屋及烏”后來就被用來比喻：因為喜愛一個人，連帶和他有關的人或事物也喜愛、關心。