An allusion to Li Bai, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, who disliked studying as a child and often skipped school and wandered into the streets. One day, Li Bai didn't go to school again and wandered around the streets, unknowingly arriving outside the city. Warm sunshine, happy birds, swaying with the wind of the flowers and grass make Li Bai sigh, "such a good weather, if all day in the house to study how meaningless?" Walking along, in front of a broken hut, there sat an old woman with white hair, grinding a pestle as thick as a stick. Li Bai walked over to her, "Granny, what are you doing? "I'm going to grind this pestle into an embroidery needle." The old woman raised her head and smiled at Li Bai, then lowered her head again and continued grinding. "An embroidery needle?" Li Bai asked again, "Is it an embroidery needle for sewing clothes?" "Of course!" "But the pestle and mortar is so thick, when will it be ground into a fine embroidery needle?" The old woman asked Li Bai rhetorically, "A drop of water can pierce a stone, and the Foolish Lord can move mountains, so why can't an iron mortar and pestle be sharpened into an embroidery needle?" But you are so old?" "As long as I put in more effort than others, there is nothing I can't do." The old woman's words made Li Bai very ashamed, so he went back and never skipped school again. He studied especially hard every day, and finally became a famous poet.
Reading no matter what you do, as long as you have perseverance, you will surely succeed. Our children, if they are serious, hardworking and persistent in their studies, there must be no problem for them to get good grades.
(2) Winking at the Rooster
The allusion to Zu Ti of the Jin Dynasty was an open-minded man with great ambitions. But when he was a child, he was a naughty boy who did not like to read. Into youth, he realized that his own knowledge of the poor, deep sense of not reading in order to serve the country, and then read up. He read books widely and studied history seriously, so he made an effort to read books. He read books widely and studied history seriously, from which he drew rich knowledge and made great progress in his studies. He had been in and out of Luoyang, the capital several times, and those who came in contact with him said that Zu Ti was a talented person who could assist the emperor in governing the country. When Zu Ti was 24 years old, he was recommended to become a government official, but he didn't agree to do so, and he still worked tirelessly on his studies.
Later, Zu Ti and his childhood friend, Liu Kun, became the head of Si Zhou. He and Liu Kun had a deep affection, not only often lie in the same bed, sleep with the same quilt, but also have the **** the same lofty ideals: to build a career, revitalize the state of Jin, and become a pillar of the country.
Once, in the middle of the night, Zu Ti heard the rooster's crowing in his sleep, he kicked Liu Kun awake and said to him: "Other people think that hearing the rooster in the middle of the night is unlucky, and I don't think so, so we can simply hear the rooster get up and practice the sword later?" Liu Kun readily agreed. So they got up every day after the cock crowed to practice sword, sword light flying, sword sound clanging. Spring and winter, cold and hot, never stop. After a long period of hard study and training, they finally became all-rounders who could write and fight, and could lead soldiers to win battles. Zu Ti was appointed as the General of Zhenxi, realizing his wish to serve the country; Liu Kun became the governor, and was in charge of the military of the three states of Jin, Ji and You, also giving full play to his literary talent and military strategy.
The story is from "The Book of Jin - Zu Ti's Biography". The idiom of "Winking the Cock and Starting to Dance" describes a person who is vigorous and energetic, and it is also a metaphor for a person who has the will to revitalize himself in time.
(C) Mending the Jail after Losing a Sheep
This story is from "Strategies of the Warring States". During the Warring States period, there was a minister of the state of Chu named Zhuang Xin, who said to King Xiang of Chu one day: "When you are in the palace, there is a state marquis on your left, and a Xiahou marquis on your right; and when you go out, the king of Yanling and the king of Shouxiang are always watching you. You and these four people specialize in luxury and pleasure, regardless of state affairs, Ying (Chu capital, in present-day Jiangling County, Hubei Province, north) must be dangerous!" When King Xiang heard this, he was very unhappy and scolded angrily, "Are you senile? Are you deliberately saying these sinister words to confuse people?" Zhuang Xin replied unhurriedly, "I really feel that things must come to this point, and I dare not say anything unfortunate about Chu on purpose. If you keep on favoring this man, Chu will surely perish. Since you don't believe me, please allow me to go to Zhao to hide for a while and see how things will really turn out." Zhuang Xin had only lived in Zhao for five months when Qin really sent troops to invade Chu, and King Xiang was forced to go into exile in Yangcheng (northwest of present-day Xixian County, Henan Province). It was only then that he thought Zhuang Xin's words were good, and hurriedly sent someone to bring Zhuang Xin back and ask him what he could do; Zhuang Xin said sincerely, "I've heard that it's not too late to think of hounds when you see a rabbit's teeth, and that it's not too late to make up for a sheep's pen when the sheep has run away. ......"
InterpretationThis is a very meaningful story, only know enjoyment, do not know how to do things, the result is bound to be met with tragic failure undoubtedly.
The idiom of "mending the prison after a sheep is lost" is based on the above two sentences, which expresses the meaning that it is not too late to save something after a mistake has been made. For example, an entrepreneur made a mistake in estimating the development of things and took a rash step forward, which led to his failure. But he was not discouraged, and patiently thought things over again, learning from this mistake, and thinking that it was not too late to "mend the fold" and start from scratch!
(4) Blind Men Feeling the Elephant
The allusion to a small country in India in ancient times, the king's name was King Mirror. He believed in Shakyamuni's Buddhism and worshipped Buddha and recited scriptures every day with great devotion. However, there were many religions and religions that were popular in the country, and most of his subjects were confused by their sermons, which made the people's mind confused and the right and wrong unclear, which was very unfavorable to the governance of the country. The Mirror King wanted his subjects to follow Buddhism, so he came up with an idea: to educate and entice them by using the example of the blind man feeling an elephant. The Mirror King instructed his ministers to say, "Find some blind men who are completely blind and come to the king's city." The messenger quickly gathered a group of blind men and led them to the palace. The messenger entered the palace and reported to the Mirror King, "Your Majesty, the blind men you ordered to be found have now been brought to the front of the palace." The Mirror King said, "You will lead the blind men to the Elephant Garden first thing tomorrow morning, so that each of them can touch only one part of the elephant's body, and then bring them immediately to the square in front of the palace." The next morning, the Mirror King called all the ministers and tens of thousands of commoners to gather in the square in front of the royal palace, boiling with people talking to each other, who did not know what important thing the king was about to announce. Soon after, the messenger led the blind men to the Mirror King's high seat, and the people in the square suddenly fell silent. The Mirror King asked the blind men, "Have you all touched the elephant?" The blind men answered in unison, "I touched the elephant!" The Mirror King added, "Each of you tell what an elephant looks like!" The blind man who had touched the elephant's legs was the first to come forward and say, "To the holy king, the elephant is like a large round barrel holding paint." The blind man who touched the elephant's tail said, "Your Majesty, an elephant should look like a broom." The blind man who touched the elephant's belly said, "Your Majesty, the elephant is indeed like a big drum." Then, the one who touched the elephant's head said that the elephant was like a big spoon, the one who touched the elephant's tusks said that the elephant was like a cow's horn, the one who touched the back of the elephant's tail said that the elephant was like a stick, and the one who touched the elephant's ears said that the elephant was like a dustpan. Finally, the blind man who touched the elephant's trunk said, "Sage king, the elephant is really like a thick rope." The group of blind men split up into several groups and quarreled and argued, all saying that they were right and the others were wrong. They went to the King of Mirrors again in droves and argued, "Great King! The elephant does look like what I say!" At this, all the subjects present laughed out loud at this, and the Mirror King looked meaningfully at the crowd and laughed.
Explaining the metaphor of trying to make a comprehensive judgment on things by making wild guesses based on only one-sided knowledge or partial experience.
(5) Waiting for a Rabbit by Keeping a Watchful Eye
The story goes that in the Warring States period, in the state of Song, there was a farmer who worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. When he had a good year, he was only just fed and clothed; when there was a famine, he had to go hungry. He wanted to improve his life, but he was too lazy and timid, doing everything is lazy and afraid, always want to come across the unexpected wealth at the door. A miracle finally happened. One day in the late fall, he was plowing in his field when some people were hunting around him. The sound of yelling rose and fell in all directions, and the frightened beasts ran for their lives. Suddenly, a rabbit, without any doubt, crashed headlong into the roots of a tree at the edge of his field and died. He had a good meal that day. From then on, he stopped farming. All day long, he guarded the magical tree root and waited for a miracle.
The idiom of "Waiting for a rabbit by guarding the tree roots" is a metaphor for trying to get something for nothing, or sticking to narrow experience and not knowing how to change.
(6) Pull Up Seedlings to Help Them Grow
An allusion Once upon a time, there was a farmer in the State of Song, who thought that the seedlings in his field were growing too slowly, and so he was worried all day long. One day, he went to the field again with his hoe, and he felt that the rice seedlings did not seem to grow at all, so he thought hard about what could be done to make them grow a little bit taller.
Suddenly, he was struck by an idea, and without hesitation, he rolled up his pants and jumped into the paddy field and began to pull each seedling a little higher. In the evening, the farmer had no trouble finishing his masterpiece, which he thought was clever, and ran home proudly, unable to wait to tell his wife, "I'll tell you something marvelous, I've thought of a good idea today, which has made the rice seedlings in our field grow a lot taller." The farmer's wife was half-convinced, so she asked her son to go to the field to see what was going on. The son was so excited to hear that the family's rice had grown taller that he flew to the field to see what was going on. At that moment, he found that the rice seedlings were growing tall, but they were hanging low, and looked like they were about to wither.
This story tells us that we must not follow the example of the farmer of Song, for everything has its own order, and if we want to finish it earlier, we will not only fail to finish it earlier, but also fail to accomplish anything.
(7) Buying a Casket and Returning the Pearl
The story is about a man in Chu who had a beautiful pearl which he intended to sell. In order to sell a good price, he thought of the pearl to be well packaged, he felt that the noble packaging, then the pearl's "status" will naturally be high. This Chu people to find the valuable wood orchids, and invited the skilled craftsmen, pearl made a box (i.e., casket), with cinnamon and pepper spices to the box smoked to the aroma. Then, the outside of the box carved a lot of good-looking pattern, but also set on the beautiful metal lace, looks, shiny, is really a delicate and beautiful crafts. In this way, the Chu people will carefully put the pearls into the box, to the market to sell. Soon after arriving at the market, many people gathered around to admire the box of the Chu people. A Zheng man held the box in his hands for half a day, loved it, and finally paid a high price to buy the Chu box. After paying the money, the Zheng man took the box and walked back. But he didn't walk a few steps and came back again. Chu thought that Zheng Ren regretted to return the box, not waiting for Chu to finish his thought, Zheng Ren had already walked to Chu. He took the pearl out of the open box and gave it to the Chu man, saying, "Sir, you forgot to put a pearl in the box, and I came back to return the pearl." So the Zheng man handed the pearl to the Chu man and then walked back with his head down while admiring the wooden box. The Chu man stood there very awkwardly with the returned pearls. He had thought that others would appreciate his pearls, but he did not realize that the exquisite packaging exceeded the value of the box, so that "the guest of honor", making the Chu man laugh and cry.
Interpreting Zheng's focus on appearance without regard to substance led him to make the improper trade-off of seeking the end; and Chu's "over-packaging" was also a bit ridiculous.
(8) Indiscriminately playing yu
According to Han Fei Zi, King Xuan of Qi loved to listen to yu playing, and he was a good showman. There were three hundred people who played yu for him. He used to ask these 300 people to play yu for him. There was a Mr. Nanguo who did not know how to play yu at all. When he saw this opportunity, he went to King Xuan of Qi and asked to join the yu-playing team. King Xuan of Qi put him in the team and gave him a very high salary. This Mr. Nanguo, who did not know how to play yu at all, was mixed in the team whenever he played yu, and pretended to play with yu. This way, he got by day by day without being found out. When King Xuan of Qi died, King Mian of Qi took over the throne. Unlike King Xuan of Qi, he did not like to listen to everyone playing yu together, but preferred to ask the yu players to come one by one to play for him. When Mr. Nanguo heard this, he had to run away and did not dare to pretend to be an yu player anymore.
A Western proverb says that you can fool some people at one time, but you can't fool all the people all the time. If Mr. Nanguo does not know how to play yu and pretends to be able to play yu, there will come a time when he reveals himself.
This story also shows that Mr. Nanguo was not good at using good learning conditions. In King Xuan of Qi's 300-member yu-playing team, he got along with 299 other musicians, and his learning resources were quite rich. But he didn't realize this and was content to indiscriminately deceive himself and others, and could only end up getting away with it.
(IX) To Seek a Horse According to the Map
The allusion to Sun Yang, a native of the state of Qin in the Spring and Autumn period, is said to be the most famous horse-reading expert in China's antiquity, who was able to tell at a glance whether a horse was good or bad. Because legend has it that Bole was the god in charge of managing horses in the sky, people called Sun Yang Bole. It was said that Bole had written a book called "The Book of Horse-reading", in which he wrote the characteristics of various kinds of horses and drew a lot of illustrations for people's reference of horse-reading. Bole had a son who was very poor in intelligence. He read his father's book and was eager to go out and find a thousand-horse. He saw the "horse-reading scripture" said: "the main characteristics of a thousand-mile horse is, high brain, big eyes, hooves like stacked up wine currant block", so he took to read the book, and walked outside, want to try his eyesight. After walking a short distance, he saw a big toad, busy catching back to tell his father, "I found a good horse, and your book 'horse-reading scripture' said about the same, only the hooves are not like stacked up wine currant blocks!" Bole looked at the big toad in his son's hand, couldn't help but feel amused and angry, and said humorously, "This 'horse' loves to jump, there's no way to ride it!"
Interpretation by the image of seeking a good horse, the metaphor of doing things stick to the dogma, stick to the rules. Now it means to follow the clues to find. The word "steed" means "good horse" and "steed" means "good horse".
(10) Handan Learning to Walk
The legend goes that two thousand years ago, there was a young man in Shouling, Yan, who did not know what his name was. The Shouling teenagers do not worry about food and clothing, on the looks is also counted on the medium human resources, but he is the lack of self-confidence, often for no reason at all feel that everything is not as good as others, inferior - clothes are good, food is the fragrance of other people, standing and sitting are also others elegant. He saw what to learn, learn the same lost the same, although the pattern of renovation, but never be able to do a good job, do not know what he should be like. People at home advised him to change this problem, he thought it was too much family control. Relatives, neighbors, said he was a bear breaking the stick, he also simply do not listen to it. Day by day, he even doubted that he should not walk like this, the more he looked at the more he felt that his walking posture is too stupid, too ugly. One day, he ran into a few people on the road talking and laughing, only to hear someone say Handan people walking posture that is called beautiful. He heard, on the heart of the disease, hastened to go up, want to inquire about an understanding. Unexpectedly, those people saw him, a burst of laughter after a long way to go. Handan people walking posture in the end how beautiful? He could not imagine. This became a problem for him. Finally, one day, he hid from his family, ran to the distant Handan to learn walking. Once in Handan, he felt everywhere new, simply dazzling. See children walking, he felt lively, beautiful, learn; see the old man walking, he felt stable, learn; see women walking, swaying posture, learn. In this way, but half a month's time, he can't even walk, and spent all the money, so he had to crawl back.
The story is from "Zhuangzi - Autumn Water". The idiom of "Handan Learning to Walk" refers to the fact that if you imitate others mechanically, you will not only fail to learn others' strengths, but also lose your own strengths and skills.
(xi) The Frog at the Bottom of the Well
The allusion to Zhuangzi's Autumn Water tells the story of a toad in a shallow well and a turtle in the East China Sea. One day, a frog in a shallow well saw a big turtle of the East China Sea, and said to it excitedly, "I am happy! When I come out, I jump around the well bar, and when I go in, I rest in the cracks of the well wall; when I jump into the well, the water soaks my armpits and gills; when I swim to a shallow place, the mud and soup are no longer there for my feet. I have the water of the well all to myself, and neither the crabs nor the tadpoles can compare with me; why don't you come down and see for yourself?" The turtle of the East Sea came to the edge of the well, and before his left foot went in, the stone knee was already stuck. The turtle slowly retreated, and then told the frog how the sea looked like: "A thousand miles away is not enough to describe the vastness of the sea; a thousand feet high is not enough to measure its depth. The frog in the shallow well was dumbfounded, horrified, and bewildered. It had no idea that there was a bigger world than the one in which it was welled!
The frog at the bottom of the well can only see a piece of the sky as big as the mouth of the well. It is a metaphor for a person who has a narrow view of the world.
(xii) Ye Gong Hao Long
The allusion to Lu Ai Gong often told others how much he longed for talents and how much he liked people with knowledge and ability. When a man named Zi Zhang heard that Duke Lu Ai welcomed talents so much, he came to Lu from a faraway place and asked to meet Duke Lu Ai. Zi Zhang stayed in Lu for seven days, but he did not see Duke Ai of Lu. It turned out that Ai Duke Lu's remark that he liked knowledgeable people was just a fashionable remark, which he had made following the example of other rulers, and he did not take Zi Zhang's request for an audience seriously at all, and had long forgotten about it. Zi Zhang was very disappointed and angry. He told a story to the coachman of the Duke of Lu, and asked him to relay the story to the Duke of Lu. Then Zi Zhang quietly left. Finally, one day, Duke Lu Ai remembered that Zi Zhang had asked for an audience, and was going to ask his coachman to go and bring Zi Zhang here. The coachman said to Duke Lu Ai, "He has long gone away." Duke Lu was puzzled and asked the coachman, "Didn't he come to me? Why has he gone away again?" So the coachman relayed to Duke Lu the story that Zi Zhang had left behind. That story went like this: there was a man named Ye Zigao who always bragged to people about how he loved dragons. He drew dragons on his sash hooks, carved dragons on his drinking utensils, and carved dragons on all the carved patterns in the bedrooms of his houses. The real dragon in the sky was touched to know that Ye Zigao loved dragons so much. One day, the real dragon landed in Ye Zigao's house, put its head into the window to look around, and dragged its tail in the hall. When this Ye Zigao saw it, he was so scared that his face changed color and he turned back and ran away in horror. The real dragon felt puzzled and disappointed. In fact, that Ye Gao is not really like the dragon, but only formally and verbally like.
Interpretation of our real life like Ye Zigao there are a lot of people, they tend to verbalize a set of labeling, but once to move the real, they fled the battlefield, which is the same as the Ye Gong like the dragon and what is the difference?
(xiii) Covering up the ears and stealing the bell
The allusion to the Spring and Autumn period, when Zhi Bo, a nobleman of the state of Jin, wiped out the Fan clan. Someone took the opportunity to run to Fan's house to steal something and saw a big bell hanging in the yard. The bell was made of the finest bronze, with exquisite shapes and patterns. The thief was so happy that he wanted to carry the bell back to his house. But the bell was so big and heavy that he could not move it. He thought about it, there is only one way, that is, the clock cracked, and then moved home separately. The thief found a big hammer, desperately towards the clock, bam loud bang, he was shocked. The thief panicked, thinking this is bad, this kind of sound is not tantamount to tell people I am here to steal the bell? He was in a hurry, his body pounced on the bell, open arms to cover the sound of the bell, but the sound of the bell and how to cover it! The sound of the bell still traveled to the distance. The more he heard it, the more frightened he became, and differently and freely drew back his hands, and endeavored to cover his own ears. "Huh, the sound of the bell has become smaller, can't hear it anymore!" The thief cheered up, "Wonderful! Can't hear the bells if you can't stop covering your ears!" He immediately found two balls of cloth, stuffed the ears, thinking, now no one can hear the bell. So he let go and smashed the bells, one by one, and the sound of the bells carried loudly to a faraway place. When the people heard the sound of the bell, they flocked to catch the thief.
The idiom of "Covering up the ears and stealing the bells" is said to be "Covering up the ears and stealing the bells", which is a metaphor for stupid and self-deceiving cover-up behavior.
(xiv) Self-contradiction
There was a man in Chu who went to the market to sell spears and shields. When a lot of people came to see them, he held up his shield and boasted, "My shield is the strongest in the world, and no matter how sharp and pointed it is, nothing can pierce it!" Then the weapon seller took up a spear and boasted, "My spear is the sharpest in the world; no matter how firm and solid it is, it can't stop it from poking, and as soon as it touches it, hey, hey, it will be pierced through right away!" He was so proud of himself that he shouted again, "Come and see, come and buy, the strongest shield and sharpest spear in the world!" At that moment, one of the spectators went up and picked up a spear, and another shield, and asked, "What would happen if this spear were used to poke this shield?" The onlookers were first flabbergasted, then suddenly burst into laughter, and they all dispersed. The man who had been selling the weapon, grayly carried the spear and shield away.
The "spear" is an ancient weapon with a long handle and a metal tip, used to stab the enemy. "Shield" is a weapon used in ancient times to protect oneself against the enemy's stabbing. Later, it was used as a metaphor for inconsistency in language and action.
(xv) Water drips down to penetrate a stone
The story goes that during the Song Dynasty, Zhang Xiaoyi was a magistrate in Chongyang. At that time, there were often insults to generals by soldiers and violations of governors by petty officials. Zhang Xiaoya thought this was an anomaly and was determined to rectify this phenomenon. One day, he was walking around the government office. Suddenly, he saw a petty official coming out of the government storehouse in a panic. When Zhang Xianyi stopped him, he realized that he was hiding a penny under his turban. The official stammered for half a day before admitting that he had stolen it from the government army. Zhang Shengya took him back to the hall and ordered him to be tortured. The official was not convinced: "What's a penny? You can only beat me, not kill me!" Zhang Chengya was furious and sentenced, "A penny a day, a thousand pennies a thousand days, a rope saws through wood, water drips over a stone." To punish this behavior, Zhang Chengya beheaded the petty official in the presence of the court.
The idiom of "Water dripping over a stone" was originally used to describe a small mistake that would turn into a big mistake if it was not corrected. Now the idiom of "Water Drops Stones" is used to describe the fact that as long as one is persistent, one can always get things done.
(16)Dong Shi Xue Knitting the Knitting Knees
An allusion to the story of Xishi, one of the Four Beauties in Chinese history, was a native of Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period. Her every move was very attractive, but unfortunately, she was not in good health, and suffered from heartache. Once, after washing clothes by the river, she was ready to go home. On the way home, she suddenly had chest pain, so she held her hand on her chest and frowned. Although she looked very hard and uncomfortable, the villagers who saw her were praising her, saying that she was more beautiful like this than usual. In the same village, there was a girl named Dong Shi who, because she was not very good-looking, saw that people in the village praised Xi Shi for the beautiful way she held her hand, so she also followed Xi Shi's example of holding her chest, frowning, and walking slowly in front of the people, thinking that in this way someone would praise her. She was already ugly, and with her deliberate imitation of Xishi's movements and her pretentious and strange appearance, she made people even more disgusted. When some people saw it, they hurriedly closed the gate; others hurriedly pulled their wives and children to hide far away, and they despised Dong Shi even more than before!
Dong Shi only knew the beauty of Xi Shi's frowning face, but did not know that it was because of Xi Shi's own beauty, and deliberately imitated it, which only left a joke of "Dong Shi's effect on the knitting of the brows" to the future generations.
(xvii) Crouching to taste gall
The story goes that during the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu and Yue were neighboring countries and often fought wars, and once the king of Wu led his troops to attack Yue and was cut in the right foot by the general of the king of Yue, Goujian, who died from his wounds. The king's son Fu Chai succeeded to the throne. Three years later, Fu Chai led his troops to attack the state of Yue to avenge his father's death. In 497 B.C., the two countries fought at Fuzhao, and Wu won a great victory, forcing King Goujian of Yue to retreat to Huiji. The king of Wu sent his troops to pursue him and besieged him on Mount Huiji, where the situation was very critical. At this time, Gou Jen listened to the strategy of his doctor, Wen Zi Xu, and prepared some gold and silver treasures and a few beautiful women, and sent someone to secretly send them to the dazai of Wu, and through the dazai, he begged for mercy from the king of Wu, who finally agreed to the plea for peace from the king of Yue, Gou Jen. However, Wu Zixu of Wu thought that he could not make peace with Yue, otherwise it would be like letting the tiger return to the mountain, but the king of Wu did not listen. When King Goujian surrendered, he traveled to Wu with his wife. The couple lived in a stone house next to Fu Zhai's father's tomb, doing things like guarding the tomb and keeping horses. Whenever Fu Zhai went on a trip, Gou Jie always followed him respectfully with a horsewhip. Later, when King Fu Zhai of Wu was sick, Gou Tram, to show his loyalty to Fu Zhai, went so far as to taste Fu Zhai's stool in order to judge the date of Fu Zhai's recovery. The date of his recovery coincided with Goujian's prediction, and Fu Zhai thought that Goujian was loyal to him, so he released Goujian and his wife back to the state of Yue. After returning to his country, King Goujian was determined to take revenge. In order not to forget the shame of the country, he slept on top of the firewood, and hung the bitter gall on the place where he was sitting and lying down, indicating that he would not forget the shame of the country and the hardship. After ten years of accumulation, Yue finally turned from a weak state to a strong one, and finally defeated Wu, and the king of Wu committed suicide in shame.
The story was later summarized as "Tasting the Gallbladder with Salary", which is used to describe a person's hard work and self-motivation, as well as the people's efforts to strive for strength.
(xviii)Yelang Ziqi (夜郎自大)
典故Han Dynasty, there was a small country named Yelang in the southwest, although it was an independent country, but it was very small in size, with a small population, and even more pathetic in terms of its products. But since the neighboring area was the biggest country of Yelang, the king of Yelang, who had never left the country, thought that the country he ruled was the biggest country in the whole world. Once, the Han Dynasty sent a messenger to Yelang, on the way to pass through Yelang's neighboring country, Dian, the king of Dian asked the messenger: "Han Dynasty and my country compared to which is bigger? "The envoy was shocked, he did not expect this small country, but ignorantly thought it could be compared with the Han Dynasty. But he didn't expect that later when the messenger arrived at the country of Yelang, the proud and ignorant king, because he didn't know that the country he ruled was only about the same size as a county in the Han Dynasty, was so unaware of his own ignorance that he also asked the messenger: which is bigger between the Han Dynasty and my country?"
The expression "Yilang Ziqi Daiguang" is used to describe a person who is ignorant and arrogant.
(xix) Yugong Yishan
The legend says that in ancient times there were two big mountains: Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain. On the north mountain there lived an old man named Yugong, who was almost 90 years old. Every time he went out, he had to make a big circle to get to the south because he was blocked by these two big mountains. One day, he gathered his whole family together and said, "I am going to work with you all to spend my life's energy to move Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain and build a big road to the south. Do you all say yes!" Everyone was in favor of it, but Yugong's old companion raised a question, "We can't move a small mountain with all of our strength combined, so how can we move the two big mountains, Taihang and Wangya? Besides, where should we put the excavated soil and stones?" The discussion went on and everyone thought that they could throw the dug-out dirt and stones to the sea in the east and to the farthest place in the north. Early the next morning, Yugong took his children and grandchildren to start digging the mountain. Although the family could not dig much each day, they kept on digging. They didn't come home once until it was time for the change of season. When an old man named Zhi Sou learned about this, he came to advise Yugong, saying, "You are not wise to do this. With your limited energy, how can you dig these two mountains flat?" Yugong replied, "You are too stubborn to be enlightened. Even if I die, there is still my son here. Even if I die, there is still my son here. When my son dies, there is still my grandson, and the grandson begets a child, and the child begets a son. There is no end to children and grandchildren, but the mountain will not grow any higher, so why can't it be dug up?" At that time, when the mountain god saw that Yugong and his men were not stopping digging the mountain, he reported the matter to God. Moved by Yugong's spirit, God sent two Hercules gods down to earth to carry the two mountains away. From then on, there were no more mountains in the way.
Originally, "Liezi - Tang Wen 5" recorded that: there were two big mountains blocking the road in front of Yugong's house, and he was determined to flatten them; another old man, Zhisuo, laughed at him for being too stupid and thought that he couldn't be able to do it. Yugong said, "When I die, I have a son, and when my son dies, I have grandchildren, and there is no end to the number of children and grandchildren, so the two mountains will eventually be leveled.
InterpretationThe metaphor is used to describe the perseverance in transforming nature and the unswerving struggle.
(xx) Practice makes perfect
There was once a man named Chen Kangsu (陈康肃), known as Yao Zi (尧咨), who was excellent in archery and unrivaled in the world. He was very proud of himself and often boasted of his skill. Many young men who wanted to learn the art of archery from Chen Yao Zi used to say flattering words to him every day to make him happy. One day when Chen Yao Zi was practicing archery with his disciples in the courtyard, an old man selling oil was walking by and stopped to watch. Chen Yao Zi raised his bow and nocked his arrows, firing ten arrows in a row, each one hitting the center of the arrow. The disciples clapped their hands and shouted, and Chen Yao Zi said to the old man, "What do you think?" The old man just nodded slightly and did not applaud. Chen Yao Zi was very uncomfortable in his heart and asked him nonchalantly, "Hey, do you old man know archery too?" "No." "Then is my archery not good?" "Good is good, but it's just a usual technique, nothing great." "Old man, what are you talking about? How dare you insult our master like this. Do you know that no one can match our master's archery skills. You are simply looking down on people too much." "Young man, don't be angry for now, what I said is true. Your archery skills are indeed ordinary, nothing worth praising." "Old man, you sound like you're an expert, so show us your skills. If you're not convinced, let's compare. What's the use of just talking without practicing!" "Little brother, I don't have any archery skills, but let me pour oil for you." "Pouring oil, do you need an old man like you to perform? Who doesn't know how to pour oil? Don't joke!" "You guys might as well watch it." When the old man finished speaking, he took a gourd and put it on the ground, and put a copper coin with a hole in it on top of the mouth of the gourd. Then he scooped up a ladle of oil, and with his eyes on the right spot, the ladle was gently tilted, and the oil flowed straight into the gourd through the hole of the coin like a thin yellow line. After pouring, the oil did not touch the coin at all. The old man humbly said to Chen Yao Zi, "This is just a normal technique, that is, practice makes perfect!" Chen Yao Zi was so ashamed that he practiced archery even harder and never boasted about his archery skills. Later his character was as good as his archery skill.
This idiom shows that no matter what you do, as long as you study hard and master the rules, you will be able to find out a lot of tricks, and you will be able to do it with ease.