“下车泣罪”这则成语的意思是表示为政宽仁，有感于自己政教之责而哀怜罪人。它来源于汉代刘向的《说苑·君道》：禹出见罪人，下车问而泣之。

有一次禹乘车出外巡视，见到有个犯罪的人被押着走过。禹吩咐把车停下，问道：“这人犯了什么罪？”

押送的人回答说：“他偷了别人家的稻谷被抓住，我们把他送去治罪！”禹听了便下车，来到那罪人身旁，问：“你为什么要去偷人家的稻谷呢？”

那罪人看出问话的是个大人物，以为要严惩他，吓的低着头不说话。禹对此并不生气，一面对他进行规劝，一面流下泪来。禹左右的人见了，都很不理解。其中一人问道：“这人偷了东西，该送去受惩罚。不知大王为什么痛苦的流下眼泪？”

禹回答说：“我不是为这个罪人流泪，而是为自己流泪。从前尧和舜做君王的时候，老百姓都和他们同心同德；如今我做了君王，百姓却不与我同心同德，做出这种损人利己的事来，所以我感到内心非常痛苦！”

禹当即命侍从取出一块龟板，在上面刻写了“百姓有罪，在予一人”八个字，然后下令把那罪人放了。

(本文转载自正!见-网.)

Stories from History: The Emperor Cries for his Mistakes

Author: Hong Yi

Once when Emperor Yu*, the founding Emperor of the Xia Dynasty, went out to
inspect his kingdom, he saw a criminal being escorted to be punished.
He ordered his carriage to stop and asked, "What crime did he commit?"

The guards said, "He stole wheat and rice from other people and got caught. We are taking him to the site for punishment."

Yu stepped out of his carriage. He came to the criminal and asked, "Why did you steal?"

The criminal faced a very important official and was so scared that he
lowered his head and said nothing. Yu did not get angry but continued
to advise him while shedding tears. The officials around Emperor Yu
could not understand and one of them asked, "This person stole from
others and should be punished. Why is Your Majesty suffering so much
and shedding tears?"

Yu said, "I am not crying for him but for myself. When Yao and Shun
were Emperors, all the citizens followed their hearts and moral
standards. Now I am the Emperor, but my people are not following my
moral standards and commit a crime like this to hurt other people.
Therefore, I feel quite miserable!"

Emperor Yu asked someone to bring a plate and wrote "When citizens
commit a crime, it is my fault." He then ordered the guards to release
the criminal.

*Emperor Yu was one of the legendary emperors in Chinese history. His
most remarkable feat was bringing the monstrous flood under control.

From PureInsight: https://www.pureinsight.org/node/4983(https://www.dajiyuan.com)