Once there was a boy who was told by his master to catch a hare. He went into the woods and looked around. Lo and behold, at that very moment, he saw a hare running along at full speed. As he watched in astonishment, the hare ran smack into a tree and knocked itself unconscious. All he had to do was to pick it up and present it to his master. For the rest of his life, the boy spent his time waiting behind the same tree in the vain hope that more hares would drop at his feet in the same way. They never did.
The proverb describes someone who expects chance to repeat itself in exactly the same way. In fact, the only thing that does not change is that everything changes.
CHAPTER 6
Tu qiong bi xian
“When the map is unrolled, the dagger is revealed.”
The Scheme is exposed; or the Game is up.
CHAPTER 7
Fen shu keng ru
“Burning books and burying scholars.”
Emphasizing the present and discounting the past.
CHAPTER 8
Wang guo zhi yan
“Words that would cause a nation to perish.”
Advice that leads to total disaster.
CHAPTER 9
Zhi lu wei ma
“Pointing to a deer and calling it a horse.”
Deliberately confounding right and wrong.
Bu ke sheng shu
“Innumerable persons were implicated.”
Ren ren zi wei
“Everyone felt threatened and feared for his own safety.”
Zi yi wei huo “Self-doubt about one’s own sanity.”
Qian shi bu wang, hou shi zhi shi
“Use incidents from the past as lessons for the future.”
CHAPTER 10
Yan que yong you hong hu zhi
“Little sparrow with dreams of swans.”
Someone with lofty ambition and high aspirations.
Shou zhu dai tu
“Watching the tree to catch the hare.”
Wang hou jiang xiang ning you zhong hu
“Kings and marquises, prime ministers and generals: such men are made, not born.”
Jie gan er qi
“To hoist a bamboo pole as a banner of revolt.”
A popular revolt against tyranny.
CHAPTER 11
Po fu chen zhou
“Destroy the cooking cauldrons and sink the boats.”
To make a last, desperate gamble for victory.
Qu er dai zhi
“Step into the emperor’s shoes and replace him.”
Taking another person’s place.
Cai qi guo ren
“Outstanding talent and ability.”
Exceptionally quick-witted.
Xian fa zhi ren
“The one who strikes first will gain control of others.”
The best defense is a good offense.
Huo da da du
“Generous, big-hearted, and open-minded.”
Bu shi jia ren sheng chan
“Refused to do the kind of work performed by his father and brothers.”
Min bu liao sheng
“People had few means of livelihood. Times were hard.”
Yi bai tu di
“Smeared to the ground after a single defeat.”
Chu sui san hu, wang Qin bi Chu
“Even if there are but three families left in Chu, the Qin empire will be toppled by someone from Chu.”
Yu bang xiang zheng, yu wung de li
“While the snipe and mussel were fighting each other, the fisherman captured them both.”
Divide and conquer.
Cheng bai zai ci yi ju
“Success or failure depends on my next move.”
Zuo bi shang guan
“Watching the action from the safety of their tents.”
Yi yi dang shi
“Everyone was equal to ten of the enemy.”
Wei ji si fu
“Beset with danger and opportunity on four sides.”
CHAPTER 12
Ru zi ke jiao
“This young man is worth educating.”
Description of a youth with promise.
Yi mu pi xiang
“Judging ability by appearance.”
Wu he zhi zhong
“Assortment of rough and untrained ruffans.”
Zi tou hu kou
“Voluntarily stepping into the tiger’s mouth.”
Si tong ba da
“Many highways radiate from this hub city in all directions.”
Wu zhong fu che
“Accidentally struck the wrong vehicle.”
Tong xing wu zu
“Free passage without hindrance.”
San cun bu lan zhi she
“Three inches of immortal tongue.”
Zhong yan ni er li yu xing
“Loyal advice that sounds unpleasant must still be followed.”
Liang yao ku ko li yu bing
“Effective medicine that tastes bitter must still be swallowed.”
Yue fa san zhang
“A code that consists of only three laws.”
Establishing clear and simple rules to be observed by all concerned.
CHAPTER 13
Hong men yan
“The banquet at Wild Goose Gate.”
A celebration fraught with danger and hidden agenda.
Qiu hao wu fan
“Not disturbing the finest downy hair.”
Not trespassing against anyone to the slightest extent.
Xiang Zhuang wu jian, yi zai Pei Gong
“While Xiang Zhuang ostensibly performs a sword dance, his real intention is to kill Liu Bang, Lord of Pei.”
Actions with a hidden motive.
Mu zi jin lie
“Split the corners of one’s own eyes open with the blazing anger in one’s gaze.”
Ren wei dao zu, wo wei yu rou
“They are like the knife and chopping board, whereas we are like fish and meat about to be minced.”
Description of a precarious predicament.
CHAPTER 14
Yi jin ye xing
“Dressed in the finest brocades to parade in the dark of night.”
Not being able to show the people at home that one has made good.
Da shi suo wang
“Greatly disappointed in their hopes.”
Mu hou er guan
“Restless monkeys in tall hats.”
Worthless people dressed up as dignitaries.
Guo shi wu shuang
“No comparable talent in the entire country.”
Piao mu zhi en
“Kindness from a washerwoman.”
Zi shi qi li
“Feed oneself by one’s own effort.”
Kua xia zhi ru
“Insults from under the hips.”
The worst kind of humiliation: crawling under the crotch.
Chi zha feng yun
“Commanding the winds and the clouds.”
All-powerful and earthshaking.
Pi fu zhi yong
“An ordinary man whose bravery is really recklessness.”
Fu ren zhi ren
“Benevolence of a woman.”
Tong ru gu sui
“Hatred that has gone into the marrow.”
Ji feng er shi
“Using without delay as a weapon while sharp.”
Yi jin huan xiang
“Returning home in silken robes after having made good.”
CHAPTER 15
Fan jian ji
Plot to sow discord and create enmity.
Ming xiu zhan dao, an du Chen Cang
“Openly repairing the plank roads but secretly crossing via Chen Cang.”
Outwardly pretending to advance along one path while secretly following another route.
Da ni wu dao
“Treason and heresy of the worst kind.”
Min yi shi wei tian
“To the people, the essence of what is most important is food.”
&n
bsp; CHAPTER 16
Ren xin gui Han
“The heart of the people belongs to Han.”
Expresses the emotion Chinese people feel toward China.
Wen jing zhi jiao
“A friendship so close they would risk having their throats cut rather than betray each other.”
Zhi zhi si di er hou sheng
“Confront a man with the danger of death, and he will fight to live.”
Zhi zhe qian lu, bi you yi shi
“The wisest among us are not always free from error.”
Yu zhe qian lu, bi you yi de
“Even the fool sometimes hits on a good idea.”
Kuang fu zhi yan, sheng ren ze yan
“The ranting and raving of a madman is occasionally approved by sages as appropriate.”
Xian sheng hou shi
“Discussion first and military force later.”
CHAPTER 17
Ren xin nan ce
“The human heart is difficult to fathom.”
Human behavior is often irrational and unpredictable.
Yan ting ji cong
“Listened and adopted all my suggestions.”
Gui bu ke yan
“Limitless and indescribably brilliant life.”
Tian yu bu qu, fan shou qi jiu
“When gifts from Heaven are spurned, intended recipients will be censured.”
Shi zhi bu xing, fan shou qi yang
“When opportunities from Heaven are rejected, calamity will occur.”
Huan sheng yu duo yu
“Calamity arises from greed.”
CHAPTER 18
Yun chou wei wo
“Devising strategies in a command tent.”
Skillful at analyzing situations and laying out correct principles of operation.
Yang hu yi huan
“Rearing a tiger to court calamity later.”
Si mian Chu ge
“Songs of Chu from four sides.”
Besieged by hostile forces on all sides.
Suo xiang wu di
“Invincible and breaks all enemy resistance.”
Bibliography
Ban Gu, Qian Han Shi (History of the Former Han Dynasty).
Sima Qian, Shiji.
Wu Fa, Cheng Yu Zhong De Li Shi.
Zhan Guo Ce (Strategies of the Warring States).
Barnouin, Barbara, and Yu Changgen. Ten Years of Turbulence: The Chinese Cultural Revolution. London and New York: Kegan Paul International, 1993.
Bodde, Derk. China’s First Unifier. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1967.
Creel, Herrlee G. Chinese Thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-tung. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953.
Gilley, Bruce. Tiger on the Brink: Jiang Zemin and China’s New Elite. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998.
Hardy, Grant. Worlds of Bronze and Bamboo: Sima Qian’s Conquest of History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
Jin Qiu. The Culture of Power: The Lin Biao Incident in the Cultural Revolution. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999.
Li Yuning. The First Emperor of China. White Plains, New York: International Arts and Sciences Press, Inc., 1975.
Karnow, Stanley. Mao and China: A Legacy of Turmoil. New York: Penguin Books, 1990.
Ssu-ma Chien. Records of the Grand Historian. Translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
Yao Ming-le. The Conspiracy and Death of Lin Biao. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983.
Acknowledgments
I am greatly indebted to my publisher, Steve Hanselman, for his belief in me. I also wish to thank my editor, Renee Sedliar, and Kris Ashley, for their hard work, and for coping so magnificently with all my requests during the creation of this book.
To my husband, Bob, for his love, support, and beautiful line drawings.
To Earl and Shirley Feiwell, for their friendship, encouragement, and for scanning and compiling my personal photographs.
About the Author
ADELINE YEN MAH is a physician and the author of Watching the Tree, Chinese Cinderella, and the international bestseller Falling Leaves. Dr. Mah is married and has two children. She divides her time between Huntington Beach, California, and London, England.
Visit the author at www.adelineyenmah.com
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ALSO BY ADELINE YEN MAH
Falling Leaves
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Copyright
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A THOUSAND PIECES OF GOLD: Growing Up Through China’s Proverbs. Copyright © 2002 by Adeline Yen Mah. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Adeline Yen Mah, A Thousand Pieces of Gold
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