Blaming not the speaker, but heeding the warning

This is a line from The Book of Songs. It means that a kind speaker should not be blamed even if his opinion is not correct, while the listener should heed the warning even if he does not have the shortcomings or errors.

This saying also exhorts the rulers to allow the people to speak up their mind freely and thus create sound and harmonious conditions for interpersonal relations. At the same time, the rulers should be broad-minded enough to heed all kinds of opinions and solicit insightful views. A saying from the oldest collection of Chinese poetry, it endorses inclusiveness and freedom of speech.

Speaking at the opening of the 2012 spring semester of the Central Party School, Xi Jinping said: Leading officials must follow this ancient principle and welcome and encourage others to tell the truth.

言者無罪，聞者足戒

“言者無罪，聞者足戒”，出自《詩經》，意為提意見的人只要是善意的，即使提的不正確，也是無罪的；聽取意見的人即使沒有對方所提的缺點錯誤，也值得引以為戒。這一理念告誡執政者要想治理好國家，必須讓人們暢所欲言，形成健康和諧的人際環境，同時充分了解人們的意愿和想法，以便從各種言論中汲取有價值的意見，這體現了言論自由的思想和包容精神。

2012年5月，習近平在中央黨校（國家行政學院）2012年春季學期第二批入學學員開學典禮上強調，領導干部一定要本著“言者無罪，聞者足戒”的原則，歡迎和鼓勵別人講真話。