(16) Beat the grass and startle the snake 打草惊蛇

Long long ago, a county magistrate named Wang Lu worked in present day Anhui province, East China. Wang Lu was very greedy and took many bribes. One of his secretaries was equally corrupt, and often schemed for Wang Lu's deeds.

One day a man went to the magistrate to lodge a complaint against the secretary. The secretary's crimes were almost the same as the crimes the magistrate himself committed. Wang Lu was so frightened that he forgot his proper role in handling the case. Instead of issuing a judgment, he couldn't help writing these words concerning the complaint: "By beating the grass, you have startled me who am like a snake under the grass!"

The above story provided the idiom "Beat the grass and startle the snake". The original meaning is that punishment for someone can serve as a warning to others. But people now use the idiom to indicate that premature actions which put the enemy on guard.

(17) The old man on the frontier lost his horse 塞翁失马

Once upon a time, there lived an old man on the northern frontier of China.

One day, his horse disappeared. His neighbors came to comfort him. But the old man was not upset at all. He said the loss might turn out to be a good thing. And he was right.

A few months later, his horse came back with another horse that was even better. His neighbors came to congratulate him on his gain. But once again, the old man viewed the event differently. He said this "good luck" might turn out to be misfortune in the end. Strangely, he was right again.

A few days later, his son fell from the new horse and broke his leg. But fortunately, since his son was lame after that accident, he was not chosen to be a soldier to fight in the following war so that he lived with family safely.

Nowadays people use "The old man on the frontier lost his horse" to comfort those who have some misfortune. It implies: Bad luck sometimes turns out to be good luck, and good luck can sometimes be bad.

(18) Point at a deer and call it a horse 指鹿为马

China's first emperor Qin Shihuang died in 209 BC. Shortly after his death, a treacherous eunuch named Zhao Gao enticed Huhai, the emperor's youngest son, to kill his oldest brother, the successor to the throne, and helped him to become emperor.

Later the young emperor killed all his remaining 12 brothers and ten sisters on the suggestion of Zhao Gao in order to consolidate his position. After that, Zhao Gao, through intrigue killed the prime minister and took over his post.

The young emperor Huhai was a muddle-headed and incompetent ruler. Zhao Gao could do whatever he liked. He became so ambitious that he finally plotted to usurp the throne. But he was afraid that the other court officials wouldn't obey him.

To test whether or not they were loyal to him, Zhao Gao presented a stag to the young emperor one day and deliberately said it was a horse.

"Are you kidding?" the young emperor laughed. "You're calling a stag a horse!"

Zhao Gao insisted that it was a horse. He then asked the other officials ' opinion. He said, in a threatening tone, "I said it was a horse. What would you say?"

Some officials kept silent because they were afraid of being persecuted by Zhao Gao. Some said yes just to flatter him. But there were upright officials who spoke the truth. In the end, none of these officials could escape persecution by Zhao Gao.

This story later condensed into the idiom "Point at a deer and call it a horse". We use it to describe someone who confuses right and wrong deliberately.

(19) Draw a snake and add feet to it 画蛇添足

An official of the ancient State of Chu awarded a pot of wine to his men after the ceremony of Spring Sacrifice.

One man said, "We have only one pot of wine. It's not enough for all of us but sufficient for one. Let's determine who'll have the wine by drawing a snake on the ground. He who finishes first will have the wine."

The others agreed. Very soon, one man finished his snake. He was about to drink the wine when he saw the others were still busy drawing.

"How slowly you are! I still have enough time to add feet to my snake." He said complacently.

But before he finished the feet, another man finished his snake and grabbed the pot from him, saying, "Whoever has seen a snake with feet? Yours is not a snake. So the wine should be mine!" He drank the wine.

The man adding feet to the snake had to give in and could only regret his foolishness.

From that story comes the idiom "Draw a snake and add feet to it". Now people use this idiom to illustrate the truth that going too far is as bad as not going far enough.

(20) Play the lute to a cow 对牛弹琴

In ancient time, there lived a musician named Gong Mingyi. He was very good at playing the Zheng, a plucked string instrument. But he also behaved foolishly sometimes.

One day, he saw a cow eating grass in the field near his house. He was inspired by the scene and ran outside to play a tune for the cow. Gong Mingyi played beautifully and he himself was intoxicated by the music. But the cow paid no heed to the elegant sounds. It simply focused its attention on eating the grass.

Gong Mingyi was surprised to see that. He couldn't understand why the cow was so indifferent to his performance. Obviously, it is not because his performance is poor. But the cow neither understood nor appreciated his elegant music!

From that story comes the idiom "Play the lute to a cow", which implies that someone speaks or writes without considering his audience. In general speaking, the speaker or writer has over-estimated his listeners or readers. In these cases, the idiom mocks the audience rather than the speaker.

(21) Give up halfway 半途而废

During the Warring States Period (475-221BC), there was a man called Yue Yangzi in State Yue. One day he saw a piece of gold on the road and picked it up. He took it home and gave it to his wife. But his wife was not happy. The virtuous woman said,

"I hear that a man of morality doesn't drink a thief's water and a man of probity refuses to accept alms. What do you think of the action of picking up another's lost valuable and possessing it for one's own?"

Yue Yangzi, feeling ashamed, sent the gold back to where he found it.

The next year, Yue Yangzi felt that he should go out and visit scholars to enrich his knowledge. So he set off.
A year later, he came back home suddenly.

"Why have you returned?" asked his wife in surprise, "You've only spent one year studying with scholars."

"I come back because I missed you very much."

Without saying anything, his wife took a pair of scissors and went to the loom at which she had worked. Pointing at the half done brocade, she proclaimed,

"This brocade is woven from the finest silk. I wove one strand after another to produce the brocade. Now if I cut it, all my previous work will be wasted. It's the same with your studies. You can acquire knowledge only through diligence. Now, you've stopped halfway. Isn't it the same as cutting the brocade on the loom?"

Yue Yangzi was moved by what she said. He again left home to visit scholars. Several years later he became a learned man.

(22) Perfectly impartial 大公无私

During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), a very noble official caled Qi Huangyang lived in the State of Jin.

One day, the king summoned him to court and asked, "Now that the magistrate position of Nanyang county is vacant, who do you think is suitable for the post?"

"Xie Hu is the right man for the job," Qi replied without hesitation.

Surprised, the king asked, "Did you say Xie Hu? I thought he's your enemy. Why did you recommend him to take such an important position?"

Smiling, Qi Huangyang said, "Your Majesty didn't ask me my personal opinions o Xie Hu. You simply asked me who I thought would be competent for the position. Therefore, I recommended Xie Hu.

The king followed Qi's advice and made Xie Hu magistrate of Nanyang county. And sure enough, Xie Hu administered the county very well and won respect from local people and his colleagues.

Some days later, the king again asked Qi Huangyang for his opinions. This time, the king was trying to find a suitable candidate for a court judge position. Qi Huangyiang recommended Qi Wu for the job. Once again, the king was surprised again by the recommendation because Qi Wu was the son of Qi Huangyang.

The king asked: "Why do you recommend your son? Aren't you afraid people will gossip?"

Qi Huangyang replied, "Your Majesty, you asked me who is the most capable person for the position of a judge, and I think Qi Wu is."

Although the king was a bit hesitant about making Qi Wu the judge, he nevertheless gave him the position. As it turned out, Qi Wu was an upright and talented judge, who people greatly respected.

Qi Huangyang's actions were praised by Confucius who said, "Qi Huangyang was right. He recommended people according to their abilities and talents, not because of personal sentiments, not because of fearing others' gossip. Therefore, people like Qi Huangyang are referred to as people "without selfish motives".

From Confucius comment comes the idiom "Unselfish". Anyone who handles affairs fairly and impartially can be described as "Unselfish; Perfectly impartial".

(23) A broken mirror joined together 破镜重圆

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), there lived a beautiful, intelligent princess name Lechang in the State Chen. She and her husband Xu Deyan loved each other dearly.

But before long their country was in danger of being invaded by the troops of the Sui Dynasty. Princess Lechang and Xu Deyan had a premonition that their county would be occupied by the invaders and they would have to leave the palace and go into exile. During the chaos they might lose touch with each other. They broke a bronze mirror, a symbol of the unity of husband and wife into two parts and each of them kept a half. They agreed that each would take their half of the mirror to the fair during the Lantern Festival, which is on the 15th day of the first Lunar month, in the hope that would meet again. When they were united the two halves would join together. Soon their premonition came true.

During the chaos of war, the princess lost touch with her husband was taken to a powerful minister Yang Su's house and was made his mistress.

At the Lantern Festival the next year, Xu Deyan took his half of the mirror to the fair. He hoped that he could meet his wife. It so happened that a servant was selling the other half of the bronze mirror. Xu Deyan recognized it immediately. He asked the servant about his wife. As he heard about her bitter experience, tears rolled down his cheeks. Xu Deyan wrote a poem on the half of the mirror kept by his wife: "You left me with your broken mirror. Now the mirror is back but not you I can no longer see your reflection in the mirror, only the bright moon but not you."

The servant brought back the inscribed half of the mirror to princess Lechang. For days, she could not help sobbing because she knew her husband was still alive and that he missed her but they could not meet forever.

The minister, Yang Su, found this out. He was also moved by their true love and realized it was impossible to get Lechang's love. So he sent for Xu Deyan and allowed the husband and wife to reunite.

From that story comes the idiom "A broken mirror joined together". It is used to suggest the happy reunion of a separated couple.

(24) Learn to walk in Handan 邯郸学步

During the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), Handan, the capital of the State of Zhao, was famous for people's walking style.

They walked in vigorous elegant strides. People in other places admired them very much. They thought the Handann people's way of walking was the best under the heaven. Several young lads from the State of Yan even wanted to copy the elegant walking style of the Zhao people. So they traveled a long way to Handan to learn how to walk.

While in Handan, these young lads watched the local people carefully, and were eager to find out how they walked. Though they tried, they just couldn't walk the way the Handanners did. To make things worse, when they decide to give up and go home, they found they had forgotten their own way of walking. They had to crawl all the way back

From this fable comes the idiom "Learn to walk in Handan". We use this idiom to describe someone who imitates others blindly only to lose his own individuality.

(25) Give the wrong-doer a way out 网开一面

Beginning with Yu the Great, the Xia Dynasty had lasted about four hundred years before Jie became the supreme ruler.

And it was in the 18th century BC that Emperor Jie was extremely tyrannical and dissolute. This aroused great resentment among the people. Tang, the Chief of the tribe Shang took advantage of this situation to overthrow the Xia Dynasty and established the Shang Dynasty in the early 17th century BC. Among the preparations for the overthrow had been the winning over of popular support.

One day, Tang was having a walk in the open country. He saw a man catching birds with a big net spread in a box-like and mumbling: "Come on, birds! Come into my net. All of you, whether you are flying high or low, east or west. Come into my net!"

Tang walked over and said to the man, "This method is ruthless! You'll spare no birds this way!" With these words, he cut the net down on three sides. Then he murmured in a light voice as if praying: "Oh, birds! Fly to the left or right as you like. And if you're really tired of your life, come into this net!"

When chiefs of other tribes heard about this, they were all moved. They said, "Tang is a good king indeed. He is so kind even to birds and beasts. He must be more merciful to human beings." And very soon, about forty tribes pledged allegiance to Tang.

From that story came the idiom "Open the net on three sides". Later, people changed it into "Give the wrong-doer a way out.", indicating to be lenient to the wrong-doers.

(26) The bird Jingwei trying to fill the sea 精卫填海

Once upon a time, the youngest daughter of Emperor Yan, legendary ruler of primitive China, went boating on the Eastern Sea. While she was enjoying herself, a strong wind rose on the sea and her boat capsized. Just before she was buried by the surging waves, her spirit turned into a beautiful bird. As it flew over the roaring sea, it cried sadly in the sound "jinwei, jingwei". That was why people called it "Jingwei".

The bird lived on a mountain near the sea. It hated the sea so much that it decided to fill it up. Every day, it flew to and fro between the mountain and the sea, carrying in a twig or a pebble from the mountain and dropping it into the sea.

One day, the roaring sea said to Jingwei, "Poor little bird, stop doing that meaningless thing! You'll never fill me up." Jingwei replied, "I'll fill you up no doubt! I will, even if it'll take me thousands of years! I'll fight on until doomsday!"

The brave little bird kept carrying twigs and pebbles from the mountain to the Eastern Sea without taking a rest.

From this fable comes the idiom "The bird Jingwei trying to fill the sea". We use it to describe people who are firm and indomitable and will not stop until they reach their goal.

(27) Mend the fold after a sheep is lost 亡羊补牢

During the Warring States Period (475-221 BC),the State of Chu not very powerful. The king and the important court officials were dissolute and incompetent. They indulged in luxury and excessive pleasure all the time.

Zhuang Xin, one of the ministers foresaw that the country was in danger. One day he remonstrated with the king: "Your Majesty, wherever you go, you're always surrounded by people who flatter you with what you like. They try everything to make you happy so that you forgot to tend to state affairs. If you go on like this, no doubt, the country will perish sooner or later."

The King of Chu flew into a rage. "How dare you! You even use such vicious words to curse my country and mean to arouse resentment among the people!" Zhuang Xin explained, "I dare not curse the State of Chu. But I really have a premonition that Chu is facing great danger." Seeing that the king is especially fond of those corrupt officials and trust them in everything, the minister thought Chu is bound to extinct. So he asked the king to let him leave Chu. He wanted to go to the State of Zhao and stay there for a while. The king gave him the leave.

Five months later, the King of Qin sent his troops to invade Chu and occupied a large tract of its territory. The King of Chu himself went into exile. Now, the king remembered Zhuang Xin's words. He sent his men to fetch him. When the king saw Zhuang Xin again, he asked him, "What can I do now?"

Zhuang Xin replied, "It's not too late if you mend the sheepfold when you find a sheep is missing." He then made some good suggestions to rehabilitate the state and recover the lost land. The king was very much pleased.

The idiom "Mend the fold after a sheep is lost" has developed from Zhuang Xin's answer to the king. We still use this metaphor to advise someone that even when he has made a mistake and suffered losses, he can still remedy it by drawing lessons from the mistake.

(28) Repeated injunctions 三令五申

In the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), the famous strategist Sun Wu known as Sun Zi came to see the King of the State of Wu, bringing along his great work The Art of War. He offered to help turn the State of Wu into a more powerful kingdom by training a strong army for it.

The king was not quite convinced and asked, "Can you try your method out on a small army?"

"Yes", Sun Wu answered.

"Can you try them out on some women?"

"Why not?"

Then the king called in one hundred and eighty maids of honor and ordered Sun Wu to train them.

Sun Wu organized the young ladies into two teams and appointed two of the king's favorite concubines to the team leaders. Everyone was given a weapon and stood in line.

Now, Sun Wu asked these women, "do you know how to march forward, backward, to the left and to the right?"

"Yes, we do." They replied.

In spite of this, Sun Wu explained to them in great detail now to march in the four directions. He also told them time and again that they must obey orders and explained why.

Now, Sun Wu beat the drum and ordered the army to march to the right. To his disappointment, the young ladies who had never received military training before did not act as he had ordered but giggled. Sun Wu did not blame them but said in all seriousness: "It's the general's fault if he hasn't made himself clear." He then repeated several times what he had said a moment before.

Now, he beat the drum and gave an order to march to the left. The ladies giggled instead of taking his order. This time, Sun Wu said seriously: "Now the order has been made clear, so that's the leaders' faults not to obey that!" He ordered to behead the two leaders.

The king who was watching the training all the time was shocked and immediately sent someone to plead for mercy for his two concubines. But Sun Wu rejected the pleading. On his insistence, the two-team leaders were executed. Sun Wu appointed two new team leaders and went on with the training. Everybody turned very serious and acted correctly to Sun's orders, just like soldiers.

From then on, the troops of the state of Wu were trained by Sun Wu and became stronger and stronger. From how Sun Wu repeated his orders comes the idiom "Repeating an order time and again".

(29) The fox is sad at the death of the hare 兔死狐悲

Once a fox and a hare became friends with the purpose of defending themselves against their joint enemy, hunters, and swore to partake their fate for each other in weal or woe. One day as they were enjoying the natural beauty together in the fields, all of a sudden, a party of hunters came and the hare was instantly shot dead. The fox had a narrow escape.

After the hunters had gone, the fox came and wept over the death of his mate. An elderly gentleman who happened to pass by was surprised at the scene. Curiously, he asked the fox the reason of her bitter weeping.

"We are small animals and being the prey of hunters, so we had planned to defend ourselves against our joint enemy, hunters promising to share our fate for each others in weal or woe. Now our enemy has killed my companion, and his death may mean the death of me tomorrow. We are real friends and real friends must share everything. How could I not help weeping!" the fox sorrowfully replied.

"Oh, I see. You have good reasons to weep over the death of a partner," exclaimed the elderly gentleman.

The idiom "The fox is sad at the death of the hare" comes for the story above, illustrating one feels sad for the death or misfortunes of his companions.

(30) Fox assuming tiger's ferocity 狐假虎威

A tiger once caught a fox and desired to make a meal of it. The cunning fox immediately made a protest saying: "How can you take me as your food? You must know that I am sent by God to this forest to be the king of all the beasts herein. If you don't believe what I say, you may follow me and see that every beast, without any exception, will fear me."

In order to prove the truth of the fox's statement, the tiger agreed to the former's proposal. The fox went ahead, and the tiger followed closely. All the wild beasts in the forest, such as hares, deer, etc., on seeing the tiger coming, went away to hide themselves one by one.

The tiger thought that these beasts, running away to hide themselves were really afraid of the fox. Therefore, he didn't dare to eat the fox.

The idiom "fox assuming tiger's ferocity" comes from the story above, illustrating those who tease people by others' force