History
治世之能臣 亂世之姦雄
“In an age of order you would be an able minister; in an age of chaos, a cunning hero.”
— Xu Shao許劭
ko그대는 태평한 시대라면 유능한 신하가 되겠지만, 어지러운 시대라면 간사한 영웅이 될 것이오.
jaあなたは太平の世なら有能な臣下になるだろうが、乱れた世なら姦悪な英雄になるだろう。
The scene behind the words
The verdict the famed critic Xu Shao reluctantly gave a young, still-obscure Cao Cao who pestered him for an appraisal — and Cao Cao roared with laughter and left. For eighteen centuries since, it has remained the one-line definition of the man, the most famous character judgment in Chinese history.
Source: Book of the Later Han — Xu Shao