Making Oneself the Experimental Subject for the Sake of Others
 
Citizens are the foundation of any society or nation. In traditional Chinese culture, cherishing citizens is what government officials were supposed to do. Anything that can benefit the general public should be attempted. In Chinese history, many honest and upright government officials have set examples of how to cherish citizens. Zhongli Yi of the Easter Han Dynasty (25 – 220 AD) was such a role model.
 
One year during Zhongli Yi's tenure as Guiji County Magistrate, an epidemic spread quickly. In a matter of just a few days, over 10,000 people in Guiji died. Facing this dire situation, Zhongli Yi couldn't eat or sleep. He kept blaming himself, "Can I still be considered an official when I can't relieve my citizens' suffering?" Paying no attention to the possibility of being infected, he went door to door to comfort the sick and their families. He also ordered his subordinates to recruit doctors to develop new medicine. Several days later, the doctors developed a new medicine. However, they did not dare to have patients try it right away. The reason was that several ingredients of this medicine were in fact poisonous herbs. After learning of this, Zhongli Yi said, "Isn't this simple enough? Let me try this medicine first." Despite everyone's objection, he grabbed the bowl containing the medicine and downed it right away. It turned out the medicine was safe. Patients were then given this medicine. Not long after, the epidemic was contained and Zhongli Yi no longer had this burden on his heart.
 
During the reign of Emperor Mingdi of Han (57 – 75 AD), Zhongli Yi became a high-ranking minister. When the corrupt official Zhang Hui was convicted by the royal court, all of his wealth gained through bribery and corruption was confiscated. The Emperor issued an edict to distribute the wealth among the ministers. Zhongli Yi rejected all of the jewelry he received and left them on the ground. Emperor Mingdi asked for the reason so Zhongli Yi replied, “I heard that Confucius would rather suffer from thirst than to have a sip of water from the ‘Thieves’ Spring.’ I cannot accept these artifacts gathered through bribery.” The Emperor sighed, “Your words are so righteous.”
 
钟离意以身试药
 
民为邦国之本，爱民恤民是中国传统文化中为官施政的做人理念。凡是有利于百姓的事情就要去做，敢于为民请命，扶持正义，历史上很多清官廉吏为后世做出了楷模，东汉的钟离意就是其中的一个。
 
钟离意任会稽县令时，社会上正瘟疫流行，会稽多人被感染，几天之内就死了一万多人。面对这惨景，钟离意寝食不安，他不住的责备自己：“百姓遭难，我无法解救，还算甚么父母官！”他不顾被感染的危险，一家又一家的去慰问病人及家属，并下令到处招募医生研制新药。几天之后，新药研制出来了，就是不敢马上给病人喝，因为其中有几味有毒的草药。钟离意知道后说：“这不很简单吗，让我来试就是了。”他不顾大家竭力阻挡，伸手夺过药就喝了下去。很快，瘟疫被控制了，钟离意紧皱的眉头也舒展了。
 
汉明帝时，钟离意授任尚书。贪官张恢被朝廷追究伏法，贪贿钱物一并没收，明帝下诏将这些财物分赐群臣，钟离意将所得珠宝全部放到地上不接受赏赐。明帝问其原因，钟离意说：“我听说孔子忍耐著干渴，也不饮盗泉之水。这些贪赃受贿之物，我确实不能接受。”明帝感叹道：“尚书的话真清正啊！”