Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period historical stories, detailed ！！！！

Spring and Autumn Period, Chu has a merchant, specializing in selling jewelry, once he went to Qi to peddle jewels, in order to business

good, the jewelry sells well, specially with the precious wood, caused many small boxes, the box carved and decorated very delicate and beautiful

view, so that the box will emit a kind of scent, and then put the jewelry in the box inside.

There was a man from Zheng, who saw the boxes containing the precious jewels were both exquisite and beautiful, and after asking the price, he bought one, opened the box

, took out the treasures inside, and returned it to the jeweler.

One Shot

During the Warring States period, there was a man named Chunyu Kun in the state of Qi. He was very eloquent and good at talking. He often used some interesting

cryptic phrases to advise the monarch, so that the king was not only not angry, but also happy to accept.

At that time, King Wei of Qi was originally a very talented monarch, but after he took the throne, he was obsessed with wine and sex,

regardless of state affairs, and only knew how to drink and have fun every day, and left all the important matters to the ministers to deal with, and he himself didn't pay attention to them.

The state of Qi was on the verge of extinction because of the lack of political control and the corruption of the officials, as well as the aggression of the lords of other countries.

Although some patriotic people in Qi were worried, they were all afraid of the king of Qi, so no one rushed out to

advise him.

In fact, Qi Wei Wang room a very clever person he likes to say some cryptic words to show his wisdom, although he does not like to listen to

others' advice, but if the advice is right, he will still accept it. Knowing this, Chunyu Kun thought of a plan

to find an opportunity to advise King Qi Wei.

One day, Chun Yu Kun met King Wei of Qi, and said to him, "Your Majesty, Chen has a riddle for you to guess: there is a big bird in his country, which has been living in the court of the king for three years, but he neither lifts up his wings to fly, nor does he have a name,

he just curls up without any purpose.

Qiwei, the king of the country, is a very important person in the world.

King Wei of Qi was a smart man, and he knew that Chunyu Kun was being sarcastic, and that he was just like that big bird, who was the king of a country

but did nothing but enjoying himself. And when he was no longer a mediocre king, so after a moment of meditation

then resolutely decided to change, pull yourself together, do something sensational is, so he said to Chunyi Kun:

"Well, this one big bird, you do not know, it does not fly, but also non-will be rushed to the sky, it does not call, but a song

It will startle the crowd, you wait and see!"

From then on, King Wei of Qi stopped drinking and enjoying himself, and began to reorganize his country. First, he summoned all the officials of the country, and rewarded those who were loyal and responsible, while punishing those who were corrupt and incompetent. As a result, the whole country was soon revitalized, and everywhere was

full of vigor and vitality.

On the other hand, he also set about reorganizing the military, strengthening the force, and laying down the prestige of the state. When they heard the news, all the lords were shocked, and not only did they not dare to invade again, they even returned the land they had occupied to Qi.

The king of Qi Wei was a great success!

Therefore, people later used the idiom of "A Sharp Shock" to describe a person who has extraordinary talent, as long as he can

make good use of it, and once it is brought into full play, he will often have amazing deeds.

Fox and tiger

During the Warring States period, when the state of Chu was at its strongest, King Xuan of Chu was surprised by the fact that all the countries in the north were afraid of his general, Zhao

Xi Shi. So he asked the ministers in the court why this was so.

At that time, one of the ministers, named Jiang Yi, recounted the following story to him:

"Once upon a time there was a tiger in a certain cave, and because he was hungry, he ran outside to look for food. When he came to a

thick forest, he suddenly saw a fox walking in front of him. He thought that this was the opportunity of a lifetime, and

so he jumped over to him and tackled him without any difficulty.

But as he opened his mouth and was about to eat the fox in his stomach, the wily fox suddenly spoke:

'Humph! Don't think that you are the king of all beasts, so you dare to devour me; you must know that heaven and earth have ordered me to be the

king of kings, and whoever eats me will be subject to the extremely severe sanction and punishment of heaven and earth.' When the tiger heard the fox's words, it half believed them,

but when it tilted its head and saw the fox's haughty and calm look, it was shocked in its heart. The original arrogance

and overbearing posture, but I do not know when has disappeared most. In spite of this, he still thought in his heart: I am the king of the hundred

beasts, so any beasts under the sky will be afraid when they see me. And he, surprisingly, came to rule over us by the order of the Heavenly Emperor!

At this point, the fox saw that the tiger was hesitant to eat it, and knew that he had already believed a few things about what he had said, so

it puffed up its chest even more divinely, and then pointed at the tiger's nose and said: 'What, don't you believe what I said

? Then you come with me now, walk behind me, and see if all the wild beasts are scared out of their wits and run away with their

heads when they see me.' The tiger thought this was a good idea and did as he was told.

So the fox made a big show of opening the way in front, while the tiger followed carefully behind. They did not go

long, they vaguely see the depths of the forest, there are a lot of small animals are scrambling for food, but when they found walking behind the fox

face of the tiger, can not help but be shocked, running wildly scattered.

At this point, the fox was very proud to turn around and look at the tiger.

The tiger witnessed this situation, and could not help but also have some fear,

but he did not know that the beasts are afraid of their own, and thought that they are really afraid of the fox it!

The cunning fox is successful, but his power is completely because of the fake tiger, to level a favorable situation to Wei

coercion beasts and the poor tiger was fooled, they are still not aware of it!

Therefore, the reason why the people in the north are afraid of Zhaoshi Xie is because the king's army is in his hands, which means

that they are afraid of the king's power."

From the above story, we know that anyone who uses the power of authority to oppress others, or uses the power of his position

to do good, can be described as "foxes pretending to be tigers".

The "up and down hand"

In the 26th year of King Xiang of the Spring and Autumn Period, Chu invaded the state of Zheng. Chu sent troops to invade Zheng. At that time, Chu was so powerful, the weak state of Zheng, really did not

have the ability to resist, as a result, the state of Zheng suffered a defeat, and even the king of Zheng Jie was captured by the Chu generals wear Fengxu.

After the end of the battle, the king's younger brother, Gongzi Wei, wanted to claim credit for the capture of Zheng Jie, saying that Zheng Jie was captured by him, so Wearing Fengxu

and Gongzi Wei had a dispute, and neither of them gave in to the other, so they couldn't solve the problem. Then they asked Bo Li (伯犁

) to be the just man to decide whose work it was.

Bo Zhuli's solution to the dispute would have been fair, and he argued that to find out whose work it was, it would be best to ask the captured king of Zheng

. So he ordered his men to bring Zheng Wangjie to him, and Bozhou Li explained to him what had happened, and then he stretched out his hand with two fingers, using the upper finger to represent Chu king's younger brother

Dong Zi Wei, and using the lower finger to represent the general of Chu, Weng Fengxu, and then asked him by whom he had been captured. Zheng Wangjie, being captured by Wearing Fengxu, hated him

so he pointed to the upper finger, indicating that he was captured by Gongzi Wei. Then Bozhou Li judged it to be the work of Gongzi Wei.

The idiom of "up and down his hand" is derived from this story; it means to cheat in a game and to reverse right and wrong.

In today's society, this kind of situation often happens: for example, if someone has done something illegal, and knows that he deserves

to be punished, he will secretly pay bribes, or ask his friends and relatives to beg for leniency, and ask for protection, and as a result, the big things

will become small, and the small things will become nothing, and will be able to get away from the law. The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on some of the most popular products and services in the world," he said.

Wondering about the sky

Once upon a time in the country of Qi, there was a man who was very timid and a bit neurotic, who would often think of some strange problems, and

make people feel puzzled.

One day, after he had eaten his supper, he took a big bushel fan, sat down in front of the door and measured it, and said to himself:

"Suppose one day the sky collapses, what should we do? We have no way to escape, and will be crushed alive

, this is not too wrong?"

From then on, he worried and fretted about this problem almost every day, and his friends, seeing him in a trance all day long and his face haggard, were all

very much worried for him, but when they knew the reason for this, they all came running to him and advised him, saying:

"O man! Why do you trouble yourself about this? How could the sky collapse?

Even if it does,

it's not something you can solve by worrying about it alone.

But no matter what people said, he didn't believe them and still worried about this unnecessary problem from time to time.

Later, according to this story, the idiom of "worrying about the sky" was developed, and its main meaning is to remind people

not to worry about some unrealistic things. It has the same meaning as "mediocre people worrying about themselves".

Mending the Jail after Losing a Sheep

This story is from the "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 the Marquis of Zhou on your left and the Marquis of Xia on your right; and when you go out, the king of Yan Ling and the king of Shou He are always following you around.

These four people are very particular about extravagance. You and these four people specialize in luxury and pleasure, regardless of state affairs, Ying (Chu capital, in present-day Hubei Province, Jiangling County, North) a

definitely going to be dangerous!"

Xiang listened to the king, very not high with, angry scolded: "You old and confused?

Zhuang Xin replied unhurriedly, "I really feel that things must come to this point, and do not dare to deliberately say that the state of Chu has

what misfortune. 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 be."

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 (west

north of present-day Xi County, Henan Province). It was only then that he thought Zhuang Xin's words were good, and hurriedly sent someone to get Zhuang Xin back and ask him what he could do; Zhuang Xin said sincerely:

"I've heard that it's not too late to see a rabbit's teeth and think of a hound; it's not too late to mend the sheep pen until the sheep has run away. ......"

This is a very meaningful story, only know enjoyment, do not know how to do things, the result is bound to be met with tragic loss

defeat undoubtedly.

The idiom of "mending the jail after a sheep is lost" is based on the two sentences above, which expresses the meaning that it is not too late to save things after a mistake has been made.

If we hurry to save things, it is not too late. For example, a businessman who made a mistake in estimating the course of events and made a rash move

was plunged into failure. But he was not discouraged, but patiently thought things over again, and learned from this mistake

that it was not too late to "mend the fold" and start from scratch!

One day's sun, one day's frost

During the Warring States period, a hundred schools of thought competed with each other, and the wind of lobbying was very prevalent. In general, the lobbyists not only had profound learning and rich knowledge, but also had profound and vivid metaphors to satirize and persuade the rulers, which was the most prominent. Meng Zi was also one of the most famous debaters of his time. In the first chapter of "Meng Zi" (告子), there is a passage which reads:

Meng Zi was dissatisfied with the king's folly, his lack of perseverance, and his gullibility in believing in treacherous slanders, and he said to him nonchalantly: "The king is also too unwise, although there are creatures in the world with strong vitality, but you put it in the sunshine for a day, but put it in a cold place to freeze it for ten days, it is still alive there into it! My time with the king is very short, even if the king has a little determination to do good, but as soon as I leave you, those treacherous ministers will come to coax you again, and you will listen to their words again, so what can I do?" Pressing, he made a vivid analogy: "Playing chess seems to be a small thing, but if you do not concentrate on it, but also the same learning is not good, do not win, Yiqiu is the country's best chess player, he taught two disciples, one of them concentrate on it, listening to Yiqiu's guidance; the other is always afraid of a big swan flying, ready to shoot geese with arrows. The two disciples were taught by the same master and learned together, yet the latter's accomplishments were far inferior. It was not that there was any difference in their intelligence, but that the degree of concentration was not the same;" This is a very instructive story, and it is a matter of concentration and painstaking effort that we have to learn a thing and do it well. If we do something today, leave it behind, and do it again the next day or so, how can we do it well? This is also one of the determining factors for the success of study and work, so later people streamlined what Mencius said, "one day of violence, ten days of cold" into "one day of violence, ten days of cold" as an idiom to describe the lack of perseverance in study and work, and an expression of capriciousness in making and withdrawing. The idiom of "one day's sun, ten days' cold" was streamlined into the idiom of "one day's sun, ten days' cold". For example, if a student is very casual about his studies, and spends less time studying and more time wasting time, we would say, "What can he learn from this kind of one day's sun, where can he learn?

Three men make a tiger

During the Warring States period, when people were attacking each other, it was common for states to give their crown princes to each other as hostages in order to make sure that everyone could really keep their word. "

Pang Onion, a minister of Wei, was going to accompany the crown prince of Wei to Zhao as a hostage, and said to the king of Wei before his departure:

"Now there is a man who says that a tiger has appeared in the market. Now there is a man who says that there is a tiger in the market, can the king believe it?"

The king of Wei said, "I don't believe it."

Pang Onion said, "If there is a second person who says there is a tiger in the market, can the great king believe it?"

The king of Wei said, "I have some doubts."

Pang Onion added: "If there is a third person who says there is a tiger in the market, can the king believe it?"

The king of Wei said, "Of course I would believe it."

Pang Onion then said, "It's obvious that there won't be a tiger in the market, but after three people said it, it seems like there really is a tiger. Now Handan, the capital of Zhao, is much farther away from Daliang, the capital of Wei, than the market here, and there are more than three people talking about me. I hope the Great King will be clear about this."

The king of Wei said, "I know everything myself."

Pang onion accompanied the prince back to the country, the king of Wei really did not summon also.

The city is a place where the population is concentrated, of course there will not be a tiger. To say that there is a tiger in the city is obviously a rumor and a deception, but many people have said so, and if they do not look at things from the truth, they tend to believe it.

This story was originally a satire on King Hui of Wei's ignorance, but later generations have extended this story into the idiom of "three people make a tiger", which is a metaphor for how rumors can sometimes cover up the truth. For example, to judge the truth of a matter, one must carefully examine and think about it, rather than listen to hearsay. Otherwise, "three people become a tiger", and sometimes rumors can be mistaken for the real ones. The initiative to retreat ninety miles. It is a metaphor for backing down and avoiding conflict.

Sleeping on firewood and tasting gall: salary: firewood and grass. Sleeping on firewood and grass, eating and sleeping to taste the bitter bile. It describes a person who is hardworking and self-motivated.

The old horse knows the way: the old horse knows the way. It is said that experienced people are more familiar with things.

Guan Bao's Friendship: During the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya of Qi knew each other most y. Later, they were often compared to friends with deep friendship.

Surrounding Wei to save Zhao:

Chao Qin to Chu:

Paper to talk about war:

Buying a Casket and Returning Pearls

Source: Han Fei Zi - Foreign Reserves Saying on the Left

Original text:

The Chu people have sold a certain pearl to Zheng. He sold a certain bead to Zheng. He made a cabinet of magnolia, smoked it with cinnamon and pepper, adorned it with jewels and jade, decorated it with roses, and seized it with emerald. The Zheng people bought their casket and returned their beads.

Translation:

There was a man from Chu who sold pearls in Zheng. He made a casket for the pearls with magnolia, perfumed it with spices, and decorated it with jewels, roses, and emeralds. A Zheng man bought the box, but returned the pearls to him.

Qi people worry about the sky

Source: Lie Zi - Tian Rui

Original text:

There are people in the country of Qi who are worried about the collapse of heaven and earth, who lose their bodies, and who waste their sleep and food. There are also those who are worried about what they are worried about, so I went to know, saying: "Heaven, the accumulation of gas ears, dead place dead gas. If the flexion and extension of the breath, all day long in the sky in the line, why worry about the collapse?" The person said: "the sky fruit accumulation of gas, the sun, moon and stars, not fall evil?" He said, "The sun, the moon and the stars, but also the accumulation of gas in the light, only to fall, but also can not do any harm." The person said: "Naiji bad how?" Dawn said: "The ground cum block ear, filling the four virtual, dead place dead block. If you are hesitant to step on the ground and walk on the ground all day long, why do you worry that it is bad?" The man was overjoyed. The first thing I want to say is that I have no idea what I am talking about, and I don't know if I can do anything about it.

Translation:

There was a man in the country of Qi who worried all day long that the sky would fall and he would have no place to stay, so he was so worried that he could not sleep or eat.

A man who saw him worrying like this went to him and said, "The sky is just a thick and thick accumulation of qi, and there is no place where there is no qi. Every move you make, every breath you take, from morning to night you live in the middle of the sky, so how can you worry about the sky collapsing?"

The man who was worried about the sky heard this and added; "If the sky is a very thick gas, won't the sun, moon and stars fall down?"

The man who came to enlighten him said, "The sun, the moon, and the stars, too, are accumulations of luminous qi, and even if they fall, they cannot injure a man."

The man who was worried about the sky asked again, "What if the earth sinks and collapses?"

The man who enlightened him replied, "The earth is an accumulation of clods of earth, and it fills up the four fields, and there is nowhere else, so how can you worry about it collapsing when you are walking and jumping on it, and living on it all day long?"

The man, hearing his friend's words, was relieved and very happy; and the man who had come to advise him put down his heart and was happy.

The king of Wei wanted to attack Handan, and Jiliang reminded him, "When I came here today, I saw a man in the great line, holding his chariot in the north, telling me, 'I want to go to Chu.'"

The king said, 'I want to go to Chu.' I said: 'I want to go to Chu.' I said: 'What will you do to the north of Chu?' He said: 'My horse is good.' Said: 'Although the horse is good, this is not the road to Chu.' He said: 'I use a lot.' I said: 'Although more, this is not the road to Chu.' He said: 'I am good at the imperialist.' The more good this number and the further away from Chu ear. Now the king wants to become a hegemonic king, and wants to believe in the world. Depending on the kingdom of the big, the soldiers of the elite, and attack Handan, in order to broaden the land and honor the name, the king's move the more number, and the farther away from the king ear. The king's actions will be more and more numerous, and the farther away from the king he will be."

Translation:

When the king of Wei wanted to attack the state of Zhao, Jiliang advised him, "I met a man at the foot of the Taihang Mountains who drove a cart northward, and told me, 'I am going to Chu.' I asked him, 'Why are you going north when you are going to Chu?' He said, 'My horse is good.' I said, 'Though your horse is good, this is not the way to Chu!' He said again, 'I have plenty of road money.' I said, 'Though your road money is ample, this is not the way to Chu!' He said again, 'The man who drove me was of great skill.' He did not realize that the direction was wrong, and that the better the conditions for catching the road, the farther the distance from Chu would be. Now you want to dominate the vassals and do everything to gain the trust of the world, relying on your own country's strength and elite army, while going to attack Handan, wanting to expand the territory to raise the prestige, do not know that the more you do this kind of action, the farther away from the goal of unification of the world as a king, which is just like to go to the state of Chu, but the behavior of the north ah!"

Painting a snake to add feet

Source: "Strategies of the Warring States - Qi Ce II"

Original text:

A man who had an ancestral temple in Chu gave a goblet of wine to its sheikhs. The officials said to each other, "There is not enough for several people to drink, but there is enough for one person to drink. Please draw a snake on the ground, and the first one to do so will drink the wine." One of the snakes was the first to be formed, and he drew wine and drank it. He held the goblet in his left hand and drew a snake with his right hand, saying, "I can be enough for it!" Before he could do so, a man's snake took the goblet and said, "The snake has no feet, so how can I do it?" He then drank the wine. The one who is the foot of the snake will eventually lose his wine. Translation:

A man in the state of Chu held a sacrificial ceremony. After the ceremony, he gave a pot of wine to some guests in his house. The guests said, "This wine is too little for several people, but too much for one. Let's draw a snake on the ground, and whoever draws it first will drink the wine." One of the guests drew the snake first, and when he had taken the wine and was about to drink it, he held up the jug with his left hand and drew the snake with his right hand, saying, "I can still add feet to the snake." Before the feet were drawn, another man drew the snake. This man snatched the wine jug away from him and said, "How can you add feet to the snake when it has no feet at all?" So he drank the wine.

A Zheng man buys shoes

Source: Han Fei Zi (韩非子-外储說左上)

原文：

A Zheng man who wanted to buy shoes first measured his feet and put them in his seat. When he arrived at the market, he forgot to take care of his feet. When he had already gotten his feet, he said, "I forgot to hold them!" He returned to get it. When he returned, the market was closed, and he was not allowed to perform. People said, "Why don't you try it with your feet?" The first thing he said was, "I'd rather believe in the degree than the confidence."

Translation:

There was a man in the state of Zheng who wanted to buy a pair of shoes, first measured his feet, and then drew a bottom-like size and put it on his seat.

He hurried to the bazaar, looked at a pair of shoes, and suddenly remembered, "I forgot to bring the measured size." So, rushed back to get the bottom sample. When he rushed back, the market has been dispersed, the shoes did not buy.

Some people asked him: "You use your own feet to try the shoes is not on the line?

Someone asked him, "Why do you have to go back and look at the shoe samples?"

He said, "I'd rather believe in my own measured size than my own feet."

Pulling up seedlings to help them grow

Source: "Mengzi Gongsun Chou"

Original:

Song people have pity for their seedlings do not grow and pull them up, manganran return, said his people said: "Today is sick! I help the seedlings to grow." The son tends to go to see, the seedling is haggard.

Translation:

In the state of Song, there was a farmer who was sick of the rice seedlings growing too slowly, so he set them up high and returned home satisfied, saying to his family, "I'm exhausted today, I helped the seedlings grow a great deal taller!" His son quickly ran to the field to see that the seedlings were all dead.

Keeping the plant waiting for the rabbit

Source: Han Fei Zi (韩非子-五蠹)

原文：

Song people have a ploughman, there is a plant in the field, the rabbit went away, and touched the pillar and broke its neck and died.

Translation:

A farmer in the state of Song was plowing his field. There was a big tree stump beside the field, and a rabbit darted over and accidentally hit the stump, breaking its neck and dying. From then on, the farmer put down his farming tools and stood by the stump, hoping to get the rabbit again. As a result, he never got the rabbit again, and his behavior was spread as a joke in the state of Song.

Handan Learning to Walk

Source: Zhuangzi - Qiushui

Original text:

And Zi only did not hear that Shouling Yu Zi's learning was practiced in Handan? I have not been able to get the country, and I have lost my old line, and I have prostrated myself and returned to the ear.

Translation:

There was a young man in Shouling, Yan, who heard that the people of Handan walked beautifully, so he rushed to Handan to learn the footwork from others. However, not only did he fail to master the unique skills of the Handan people's walking, but he also forgot his own original walking steps, and as a result, he had to crawl home.

Carving a Boat to Seek a Sword

Source: "Lüshi Chunqiu - Chajin"

Original Text:

When a man from Chu waded into the river, his sword fell into the water from his boat, and he suddenly cut the boat, and said, "This is the place where my sword fell from." The boat has been traveling, and the sword is not working, so it is not confusing to seek the sword in this way!

Translation:

There was a man from Chu who crossed the river in a boat and accidentally dropped the sword he was wearing into the river. He hurriedly carved a mark on the edge of the boat, saying, "My sword fell from here." When the boat docked, the man followed the mark on the edge of the boat and went into the water to look for the sword, but after searching for half a day he could not find it. The boat had gone far away, and the sword was still in the same place. Isn't it nonsense to look for the sword by carving the boat?

Covering the ears and stealing the bell

Source: "Lüshi Chunqiu - Self-knowledge"

Original text:

When Fan died, the people had a bell. When they wanted to carry it away, the bell was too big to carry; when they destroyed it with a spine, the bell made a sound. They were afraid that people would hear it and take it away from them, so they quickly covered their ears. The first is that it is not possible for the people to hear it, but it is not possible for the people themselves to hear it.

Translation:

When the Fan clan, a great ruler of the state of Jin, fell, a commoner got a bell and wanted to carry it away. But the bell was too big to carry. So he used a hammer to break it, so that the bell boomed again, and the old man, fearing that others might hear it and come to rob the bell, hastened to plug his ears, thinking that if he could not hear it himself, no one else could hear it either.

Respondent: Hunting Wind ∝ - Book Boy First Class 2005-10-6 16:11

Prosecution Withdrawal Retreat Three Shelters Lying down with pay and tasting gall Old horse knows the way Old horse knows the way Guan Bao's acquaintance Surrounding the Wei-Save Zhao Towards Qin Twilight Chu Paper Talking about the army with a single bang Fox False Tiger Wei Unworthy of worrying about the sky Mao Suo Sui-Shi

Buy Boxes and Return Pearls: During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a merchant in the state of Chu, who specialized in the sale of jewelry, and he went to the state of Qi to peddle jewels once.

There was a man from Zheng, who saw the box with the jewels was exquisite and beautiful, asked the price, bought one, opened the box

, took out the treasure inside, and returned it to the jeweler

.