The most interesting folklore

Chapter 28 The most interesting folk proverbs (2)
During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a young man named Tantai Mieming, named Ziyu, who was ugly and somewhat fierce.One day he came to Confucius' door and asked Confucius to accept him as a student.Confucius saw that he was ugly and was very reluctant, but he was not ashamed to refuse, so he reluctantly accepted him.However, Ziyu was a well-behaved, diligent and studious person, and he soon became outstanding.Later, Ziyu went to some southern countries to give lectures, and he was deeply loved. At one time, his disciples reached 3000, and he became a well-known scholar.Confucius was deeply moved and regretted that he should have neglected Ziyu at the beginning. He said sadly: "Judge people by their appearance, and lose Ziyu!"

17. What is the story of "respect is worse than obedience"

"Respect is worse than obedience" originally meant to show respect to others, it is better to obey them, and later it was often used when accepting gifts from others.This idiom comes from the following story.

There is a new daughter-in-law who has just passed through the family. She is very polite and capable, but she is never praised by her mother-in-law.She carefully recalled her interactions with her mother-in-law, and felt that it was not enough to just think about her mother-in-law in her heart and share more housework silently. She should also show more obedience when talking, so that her mother-in-law can get psychological satisfaction.

Is there a year of cold winter and the twelfth lunar month? , the family was busy preparing for the New Year, but the mother-in-law said to her daughter-in-law: "I want to drink fresh bamboo shoot soup right away." The daughter-in-law was a little surprised, but said straightforwardly: "Okay, I will cook it for you as soon as possible." Another daughter-in-law was puzzled, she pulled her new daughter-in-law aside and asked her, "It's the twelfth lunar month, where can you find fresh bamboo shoots?"

The new daughter-in-law had no choice but to say, "I promised her the old man just to keep her from getting angry. I was also wondering where I could find fresh bamboo shoots."

Fortunately, their words were heard by the mother-in-law. She thought that her daughter-in-law would rather bear the difficulties on her own than let herself down, so she developed a good impression of her-the heart is full of meat. The mother-in-law said at the time that she did not want to eat fresh bamboo shoots. No more problems for my daughter-in-law.

After this incident got out, there was a popular saying in the local area: "It is better to be respectful than obedient, and it is better to be trained than obedient."

18. Does "the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked" mean building a house?

As the saying goes, "The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked", which means that the upper beam and the lower beam of the house are closely related. If the upper beam is already skewed, the lower beam will also be out of alignment.Metaphor refers to the effect of the upper and lower, if the fundamental upper-level problems are not solved well, other problems cannot be solved.

Beams refer to the long logs that are placed on the pillars in the front and rear directions of the roof trusses of the wooden structure. The upper beam, let it support the four sides.It is an old custom to hang a red cloth with the words "Shangliang Daji" on the beam when it is erected, wishing good luck.It can be seen that it plays an important role in the structure of the whole house building.If the upper beam is not correct, it will inevitably lead to the skew of the lower beam, which will seriously affect the quality of the house, reduce the service life of the house at least, and cause serious consequences of house collapse.Therefore, people use the common saying "the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked", or "the upper beam is not straight and the bottom beam is crooked", which shows that the straightness and inclination of the upper beam are directly related to the straightness and inclination of the lower beam.

This proverb is a metaphor: If a leader cannot lead by example and act fairly and justly, then his subordinates must follow his example and become "crooked" and worse.

19. What is meant by "Holding a big ax in front of Luban's gate"

According to legend, the tomb of Li Bai, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, is on Caishiji in Dangtu County, Anhui Province.Once, Mei Zhihuan, a Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty, visited Caishiji and saw many tourists writing many poems on Li Bai's tomb.Most of these verses are poorly written.He thought that Li Bai was a generation of poets, and these people actually wrote poems in front of Li Bai's tomb.Therefore, he also wrote a poem: "A pile of soil by the quarrying river, Li Bai's name is high through the ages; a poem coming and going, a big ax in front of Lu Ban's door." Lu Ban was a skilled craftsman in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. High civil engineering skills.Mei Zhihuan and some people even showed off their ability to use an ax in front of Lu Ban to laugh at those who wrote poems indiscriminately. "Playing a big ax in front of Luban's door" can be simplified to the idiom "Banmen making an axe", which is a metaphor for showing off one's skills in front of experts, overestimating and expressing oneself.

Similar to this common saying is "recite the Three Character Classic in front of the sage".The sage refers to Confucius.The Three-Character Classic means "at the beginning of human beings, nature is good. Sex is similar, but habits are far away...", which is the initial knowledge of Chinese traditional elementary school.Reciting the Three Character Classic in front of the most learned Confucius, showing off your knowledge, is a metaphor for being overweight and not knowing the level.

20. Who is talking about "Those who have eyes but don't know gold inlaid with jade"

"With eyes but not gold inlaid with jade" is the story of "Heshibi".

After Qin unified China, Heshibi fell into the hands of Qin Shihuang.He ordered the skilled jade craftsmen to carve it into a jade seal measuring four inches in length, width and height, which was regarded as a fetish and could never leave him. In panic, he dropped the jade seal into the lake.Eight years later, when he went to Huayin to inspect, someone blocked the way and presented the lost jade seal.Since then, Yuxi has returned to Qin Dynasty.

Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, broke through Xianyang, the capital of the Qin State, and Prince Ying of Qin surrendered and presented the jade seal.Liu Bang took it as the jade seal of the country and passed it down to 12 emperors.At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, after Wang Mang usurped the throne, he encouraged people to search for jade and forced Empress Xiaoyuan to hand over the jade seal.In a fit of rage, the Queen Mother took out the jade seal and threw it on the ground violently, causing a corner of the jade seal to collapse immediately.Later, the missing corner was inlaid with gold, so it was named "gold inlaid jade seal", also known as "gold inlaid jade".

For those who don't know the origin of the jade seal, even if the horns are inlaid with gold, the jade seal is not perfect after all.Since then, there has been a common saying that "the eyes do not know the gold inlaid with jade", which refers to not being able to see people and things that are ordinary on the surface but are actually very remarkable.

21. How did "Monks from afar know how to chant scriptures" come about?
According to legend, not too far from Wutai Mountain, there is a Matou Mountain. There is a small temple on the mountain called Mawang Temple. In the temple, there lived an abbot named Jingkong and more than a dozen monks. The predecessor of Mawang Temple was a god of good fortune. Temple, but the incense is not strong.Monk Jingkong was originally a wandering monk on Mount Emei, but later he came here and replaced the God of Fortune with a Bodhisattva.After some good men and women came to visit the shrine, they were particularly effective, so more and more people prayed for blessings and disaster relief, and the incense became more and more prosperous.

Once, a rich man in the local area came to ask the Bodhisattva to bless his wife because his wife had been ill for a long time.His wife got well in the future, so he donated ten thousand taels of silver and one thousand taels of gold to expand the temple and reshape the golden body of Bodhisattva.

After half a year of construction, the new temple was completed, and the whole temple was full of joy.The monks were busy chanting scriptures and preparing for the consecration ceremony.Ke Jingkong believed that the original monks in this temple had low intelligence and little attainment, so they were not allowed to chant scriptures at the consecration ceremony.Just let them do some chores like sweeping the floor and pouring tea.However, 20 monks were invited from Mount Emei thousands of miles away to do the chanting.Although the whole consecration ceremony was well done.But the original monks were full of anger.They said: "As the abbot of Jing Kong, he doesn't believe in or approve of us monks who have recited scriptures for more than ten years. Only monks from far away can recite scriptures. It's really unfair." Later, these monks left Mawang Temple one after another. left headroom.

"Monks from far away can chant scriptures" comes from this legend.Now people often use this idiom as a metaphor for looking down on local talents and thinking that only outsiders are capable.Sometimes it is also used as a metaphor that people from outside are capable, so they are easily respected by the locals.

22. Who is the one who said that "smartness is mistaken by cleverness"

"Smart but misunderstood by cleverness" is to ridicule those who have tried their best to exploit and exploit by all means, but instead of doing what they wanted, they hurt themselves.

Cui Dunshi (1139-1182) in the Southern Song Dynasty recorded in the collection of miscellaneous notes "Ruyan": In order to protect its own safety, when there are suspicious signs, the cuttlefish will immediately spit out ink and blacken the surrounding water to cover itself and wait for an opportunity to escape.It thought this move was extremely clever, but it just told the fisherman "There is no 'fish' 300 taels here", and it ended up costing its own life.People have concluded from it the proverb that "being clever is misunderstood by cleverness".

Many dictionaries and most people say that this proverb originated from Su Shi's poem in the Northern Song Dynasty:

Everyone wants to be smart,
I was mistaken for my whole life by being clever.

I wish my children were stupid and rugged,
There is no disaster to the public secretary.

Because there is an etymology of "I was misunderstood by cleverness" in the poem. Later generations took it as "I was misunderstood by cleverness"

23. What is the metaphor of "a dwarf watching a show and applauding with others"

"A dwarf watches a play and follows the crowd's applause", which is also called "a dwarf watches a play and listens to others' praise", also called "a dwarf watches the play and echoes with others"."Zhu Zi Yu Lei" 27: Those who know that someone's poetry is good and someone's poetry is not good, just see what the predecessors said, so they take it from the emptiness, like a dwarf watching a play, see Humanity is good, so is he.Even asking him where is the benefit, Yuan did not know.

In the old days, "Grass Stage Opera" was performed in the countryside, and the stage was set up in the open air. The stage was not very high, and people crowded together to stand and watch.There was a dwarf who also went to the theater. The people in front of him were tall and his sight was blocked. He couldn't see at all. He could only hear the applause from the front and back, saying that the performance was really good (Yan: beautiful), and the dwarf also shouted loudly. Applause.In fact, he didn't see it at all, he just echoed it.Therefore, Li Zhi of the Ming Dynasty said in "Continued Burning Books": "When I was a child, I heard that Confucius was a sage. As for why he was a sage and what he deserves to be respected, I didn't understand at all. Just say Yan'."

Later generations used the allusion of "a dwarf watching a play and applauding with others (Shuo Yan)" as a metaphor for a person who has no opinion and echoes, which is synonymous with the idiom "response insect".

24. Where does the phrase "A wise man thinks a thousand times, he must make a mistake" come from

Duke Jing of Qi had a chancellor named Yan Ying, who was smart, fair and honest.He killed domineering warriors, improved relations with neighboring countries, and admonished Qi Jinggong's extravagance.In the 32nd year of King Jinggong, a comet appeared. Jinggong thought it was a symbol of the coming disaster and planned to pray for disaster relief.Yan Ying said: "If you alone pray to God for disaster relief, while tens of thousands of people are complaining and complaining, who will God listen to? So instead of praying, it is better to reduce the burden on the people and reduce their grievances. "Jing Gong listened to his words, and Qi became strong.

Jing Gong believed that Yan Ying had made great contributions, and felt sorry for Yan Ying's life in poverty, so he rewarded him with a dry gold.But Yan Ying refused three times.Qi Jinggong was very unhappy and said: "You are too stubborn. In the past, Guan Zhong, the famous prime minister of our country, the Duke of Guo gave him money, and he never refused. Why did you refuse?" Rewards should be rewarded for meritorious service. I have not made meritorious service, so I am not worthy of the award. The proverb says: "A wise man will lose a lot, but a fool will gain a lot." I should not be as good as Guan Zhong, I may be a fool , but he may be more right than Guan Zhong in refusing the reward!" He finally declined the reward and lived a poor life all his life.

"Yanzi Chunqiu" records this ancient proverb.Later generations used the saying "a wise man is bound to make a mistake" when he makes suggestions and expresses humility.He also advises those who think they are smart to be more cautious.

25. What is meant by "There are people in the store who are good at eating, but no one in the court should be an official"

There are people in the store who are good at eating, which means that there are people in the inn that I know well, and even if they have no money, they can eat and stay overnight.It is a metaphor for acquaintances who are easy to handle and can help.

In the past, the transportation was underdeveloped, and there were no trains or cars. People went to the city and went to Beijing. The rich took cars and horses, while the poor could only walk.Especially when traveling far away, it is even more difficult.Although I had enough clothes and money when I went out, I didn’t know what happened on the road. Once there was a natural or man-made disaster, the money was lost, and I didn’t even have money for food and accommodation.In this case, if there are relatives and friends in the store, they can eat and stay without money without going hungry.So there is the saying that "someone in the store is good to eat".

In ancient times, as an official, the seven crystals and above were all appointed by the imperial court.In the same way, if a person who wants to be an official has his own relatives and friends in the court, who can speak up and help, it will not be so difficult to become an official.Therefore, there is also a saying that "someone in the court is good at being an official".

That being the case, why do you say "no one in the court should be an official"?According to the explanation of Mr. Wang Youguang in the Qing Dynasty, when the emperor was fatuous and treacherous ministers were in power, and there was no one in the court, you should not be an official at this time.Because at this time, when you are an official, you must be a good and honest official. You will not be tolerated by power and rape.If you are a stupid and corrupt official, you will join forces with power and traitors, become a villain, and ruin your innocence.This proverb is telling people not to be an official when "there is no one in the court".

26. Does "the little witch sees the big witch" mean that the wizard has a meeting?
Witch: wizard, witch, old-fashioned witch.When the little wizard saw the big wizard, he couldn't cast spells.Compared with the metaphor, it shows the superiority and inferiority.The language comes from "Three Kingdoms?Wu Zhi?"Biography of Zhang Zhan".Qiu Songzhi quoted "Book of Wu": "The so-called little witch sees a big witch, and his spirit is exhausted."

During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhang Zhan, the long history of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, was very talented in writing, good at poetry and prose, and good at regular script and seal script. Zhang Zhao, a literati, was also famous.

When Zhang Zhan saw the pillows of nanmu and pomegranate wood, he liked their fine texture, so he wrote a poem for them.Chen Lin, a famous writer at that time, saw it in the north, and happily showed it to others, saying: "This is written by Zhang Tong, my fellow countryman." Later Zhang Wen saw Chen Lin's "Arsenal Fu", "Ying Ji" After "On", I wrote to Chen Lin and praised him greatly.Chen Lin wrote back and said: "Since I came to the north of the Yellow River, it seems to be isolated from the world. People here seldom pay attention to their articles, so they are easy to be noticed. This false name is not worthy of the name. Now Jingxing is in Hebei. Mr. and Zhang Zhao is in the south of the Yangtze River, so the so-called small witch sees the big witch, and the magic cannot be cast.

Later, people used "the little witch sees the big witch" as a metaphor that the abilities and talents of two people are so far apart that they cannot be compared.

27. Is "sitting on the mountain and watching tigers fighting" mean watching tigers fight?

"Sitting on a mountain and watching tigers fight" refers to sitting on a mountain and watching two tigers fight each other.The language comes from Sima Qian's "Historical Records?Biography of Zhang Yi".

During the Warring States Period, one year South Korea and the State of Wei fought for a long time, with neither victory nor defeat.King Qin Hui planned to send troops to crusade, and wanted to hear the opinions of the ministers, but there were different opinions and no consensus.The doctor Chen Zhen returned to the state of Qin, and King Qin Hui asked him to help plan.Chen Zhen didn't answer King Hui of Qin's question directly. He first told a story: "Once upon a time there was a man named Bian Zhuangzi who saw two tigers and wanted to kill them with his sword. The people next to him advised him: 'You Don't worry, you see two tigers are eating the cow, and after a while the cow is eaten up, they will fight and fight, the result is that the big tiger will be injured and the young one will die.

At that time, if you assassinate the injured tiger again, wouldn't you get two tigers in one fell swoop?

Qin Huiwang suddenly realized, and said: "You mean, let South Korea and Wei Guo fight for a while, and when one fails and the other is damaged, I will send troops to defeat them at once. Bian Zhuangzi is like stabbing a tiger, sitting on a mountain and watching a tiger fight, killing two birds with one stone, right?" Chen Zhen nodded and said, "That's exactly how King Hui of Qin adopted Chen Zhen's advice and really won.

28. Who said "If you don't do it, you will never stop"

This word means that if you don’t do it, you have to do it, and if you do it, you must do it to the end. It comes from Zhao Yuanyi’s "Fengtianlu" in the Tang Dynasty.

In 755 AD, An Lushan, the governor of the Tang Dynasty, rebelled.The imperial court sent troops to suppress the rebellion. In a battle, the horse of the general Wang Sili was shot by an arrow and fell down. When he was in danger, Zhang Guangsheng, a cavalryman, gave Wang Sili his horse to save him from danger.After the rebellion was pacified, Wang Sili was promoted to a high-ranking official. He did not forget Zhang Guangsheng's life-saving grace, became brothers with Zhang, and recommended him to the court again and again, which made Zhang's official position bigger and bigger.

Later, an army mutinied in Chang'an, the capital.Tang Dezong fled to Fengtian (now Qianxian County, Shaanxi Province) in a panic, and the rebels promoted Zhu Ye as emperor, and Zhang Guangsheng attached Zhu Ye as his military envoy.

Zhu Xie claimed to be the Emperor of Qin, and led the army to attack Fengtian, and Zhang Guangsheng became his lieutenant general.Unexpectedly, the attack was unfavorable, and the siege failed to conquer for more than a month, and troops from all over to rescue Emperor Dezong came one after another.In this case, Zhu and Zhang could only return to Chang'an.The following year, Zhu Ye changed the name of the country to Han, proclaimed himself Emperor Han Yuan, and made Zhang Guangsheng the prime minister.At this time, General Li Sheng and others of the Tang Army approached Chang'an.Zhang Guangsheng saw that Zhu Xi's situation was gone, so he secretly contacted Li Sheng, the general of the Tang army, and hoped to return to the court. Li Sheng welcomed him.

As an internal response, Zhang Guangsheng advised Zhu Ye to leave Chang'an as soon as possible, and personally sent him out of the city.After Zhu Xi fled far away, Zhang Guangsheng returned to Chang'an and led the remnants of his troops to surrender to Li Sheng. Li Sheng promised to sue the court to reduce his crime of defecting to the enemy.However, Emperor Dezong later issued an imperial edict to execute Zhang Guangsheng.Li Sheng could no longer thank Sui for Zhang Guangsheng, so he had to execute it.

When he was about to die, Zhang Guangsheng said sadly: "Those who pass on my words to future generations: first, don't do it, and second, don't give up." Later generations simplified his words to "one thing, two things."

29. What does "a three-inch tongue" refer to

One of Liu Bang's right-hand assistants, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, was named Zhang Liang. He was not tall in stature and weak in appearance. He was a scholar.But he is proficient in the art of war, resourceful and eloquent.Liu Bang rebelled against Qin, then fought with Xiang Yu for the world, and finally won the victory and established the Han Dynasty.In terms of military affairs, Zhang Liang strategized and made decisions, which played a great role. "Historical Records: The Family of Liuhou" records that Liu Bang became emperor and named Zhang Liang "Liuhou".But Zhang Liang wanted to become a Taoist monk. He said: "My family is originally in South Korea, and my ancestors have been ministers of South Korea for generations. The tyrannical Qin State destroyed our South Korea. The war against Qin, and I finally saw victory. With my "three-inch tongue", I got such a high honor and status today, which is really enough for me..."

The so-called "three-inch tongue" refers to the tongue. "Historical Records Suoyin" commented: ""Chun Qiu Wei" says: the tongue is in the mouth, and it is three inches long." Or "a three-inch tongue", which means that even though it is only three inches, it is amazing!
30. "Which pot is not boiled and which pot is lifted" does it mean that some people like to drink water that cannot be boiled?

"Which pot is not opened, which pot is lifted" originated from a folk story, and later derived this saying.It means to carry a cool pot and let people drink cold water.It is extended to say something that should not be said.Do stupid things, do things you shouldn't do.

(End of this chapter)