This term indicates a willingness to hear and follow admonishments. In ancient China, there was a time-honored system of court admonishers. Such officials gave admonishments to the monarch against possible wrong-doings, and could be found in the imperial court of every dynasty, though the official titles could differ. This practice was dictated by the fundamental nature of the ancient Chinese political system itself, where an autocratic monarchy shaped by the Qin and Han dynasties continued for over two thousand years. This system was marked by the monarch’s monopolization of legislative, judicial, and administrative powers. A consequent flaw was that the monarch could easily harm the fundamental interests of the dynasty with his arbitrary decisions and willful actions, thus intensifying the crisis of the autocratic regime. In order to address that flaw, each imperial court set up a system of court admonishers. In Chinese history, there are numerous tales of courageous court admonishers who gave their honest opinions even when faced with displeasure from monarchs, and of monarchs who willingly listened to outspoken admonishers.