{"id":7822,"date":"2019-10-04T18:13:48","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T18:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-reading\/story-behind-the-idiom-yu-bang-xiang-zheng\/"},"modified":"2019-10-04T18:13:48","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T18:13:48","slug":"story-behind-the-idiom-yu-bang-xiang-zheng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/my\/story-behind-the-idiom-yu-bang-xiang-zheng\/","title":{"rendered":"Story Behind the Idiom: Yu Bang Xiang zheng"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is the backstory behind the Chinese idiom \u9e6c\u868c\u76f8\u4e89 yù bàng xi\u0101ng zh\u0113ng, which translates to “The Sandpiper and the Clam Fight Each Other”, and means “Two parties fight and a third party benefits.”
Chinese Political Short Stories with English Translation: Intermediate Fables and Chinese Idioms ExplainedCool upper-intermediate piece – in case it hasn’t been obvious throughout these posts, I love classical stories a<\/em>bout wily government counselors and should probably post a<\/em>bout something else on occasion, but so many classical tales involve this trope that it’s hard to avoid.
This piece is cool because – excepting the first sentence – the sentence structure is simple but there are quite a few classical words, so you’ll learn some historical terms. In case you think this kind of thing isn’t really useful, think again. Historical figures in the Chinese dynasties are mentio<\/em>ned frequently in the oddest places, and their stories bleed out into every medium. If you’re at a museum, if you’re reading Chinese magazines, if you’re reading Chinese historical essays, if you’re watching a TV show or book or listening to the radio, you’ll see mentions of historical dynasties all the time. But most im<\/em>portantly, if you want to watch Chinese war movies or period pieces (and there are some great ones), this vocab is crucial. You might as well know at least when to recognize that the co<\/em>nversation has gone that way.
This short story takes place during the Warring States period (475 BC to 221 BC), and mentions three of the seven warring kingdoms of that time, so you’ll learn some dynasty names: \u8d75\u56fd zhào guó (The Zhao State), \u71d5\u56fd y\u0101n guó (The Yan State), and \u79e6\u56fd qín guó (the Qin State). Speaking of dynasties, when you’re reading this, look out for the word \u738bwáng – as you probably know at this point in your studies, \u738bmeans “king”, and when you see that, you can sometimes guess that the two or three characters before this word are the name of the king. Unlike in English, wher we say “King Charles” or “King John”, in this case the Chinese put “king” after the name. For example, in this story, we have \u8d75\u60e0\u6587\u738b – King Huiwen of Zhao (in other words, king of the Zhao state).
What’s amusing a<\/em>bout this story is that in reality, the Qin Dynasty came out on top of the Warring States period and ruled China (well, for a decade or so, anyway) after the Warring States were over – so bear that in mind as you read the last sentence.
You’ll also meet our protago<\/em>nist \u82cf\u4ee3 s\u016b dài – who he is is explained in the first sentence, but suffice to say that \u82cf\u4ee3 is a person’s name. He’s mentio<\/em>ned in co<\/em>njunction with \u7eb5\u6a2a\u5bb6 zòng héng ji\u0101, the School of Diplomacy, which was a sort of league of scholar-statesmen from the Warring States period. If you’re interested, you can read more a<\/em>bout it on Wikipedia.
Anyway, I’m making this story sound really complicated, but other than the historical terminology, the storyline is not at all convoluted.<\/p>\n

Click to Listen
\u7b56\u58eb – ce sh\u012b – Military strategist
\u5982\u4e0b – ru xia – The following, as follows
\u5bd3\u8a00 – yù yán – Fable
\u6613\u6c34 – yì shu\u01d0 – Gentle waters
\u6070\u597d – qià h\u01ceo – As it happens
\u868c – bàng – Clam
\u9e6c – yù – Sandpiper
\u4ecb\u58f3 – jiè qiào – Hard outer shell
\u9488\u950b\u76f8\u5bf9 – zh\u0113n f\u0113ng xi\u0101ng duì – Measure for measure, give as good as one gets, fight back just as hard
\u4e24\u8005 – li\u01ceng zh\u011b – Both sides
\u6e14\u7236 – yù fù – Fisherman
\u75b2\u52b3 – pí láo – Weary
\u626e\u6f14 – bàn y\u01cen – To play the role of, as an actor, or person pretending
\u6df1\u601d\u719f\u8651 – sh\u0113n s\u012b shú l\u01dc – Co<\/em>nsider carefully
\u8d75\u56fd\u5c06\u8981\u8ba8\u4f10\u71d5\u56fd\uff0c\u82cf\u4ee3(\u6218\u56fd\u65f6\u7b56\u58eb\uff0c\u7eb5\u6a2a\u5bb6\u82cf\u79e6\u7684\u5f1f\u5f1f)\u66ff\u71d5\u56fd\u6e38\u8bf4\u8d75\u60e0\u6587\u738b\uff0c\u8bb2\u4e86\u5982\u4e0b\u7684\u5bd3\u8a00\u6545\u4e8b:
“\u6211\u6765\u7684\u65f6\u5019\u7ecf\u8fc7\u6613\u6c34\uff0c\u6070\u597d\u770b\u5230\u868c\u51fa\u6765\u6652\u592a\u9633\u3002\u9e6c\u8d81\u673a\u5544\u868c\u7684\u8089\uff0c\u868c\u628a\u4e24\u6247\u4ecb\u58f3\u4e00\u95ed\u5c31\u5939\u4f4f\u4e86\u9e6c\u7684\u5599\u3002\u9e6c\u8bf4:‘\u4eca\u5929\u4e0d\u4e0b\u96e8\uff0c\u660e\u5929\u4e0d\u4e0b\u96e8\uff0c\u5c31\u6709\u6b7b\u868c\u3002’\u868c\u4e5f\u9488\u950b\u76f8\u5bf9\u5730\u8bf4: ‘\u4eca\u5929\u4e0d\u51fa\uff0c\u660e\u5929\u4e0d\u51fa(\u5939\u4f4f\u4e0d\u653e)\uff0c\u5c31\u6709\u6b7b\u9e6c\u3002’\u4e24\u8005\u8c01\u4e5f\u4e0d\u80af\u7f62\u4f11\uff0c\u8fd9\u65f6\u8fc7\u6765\u4e00\u4e2a\u6e14\u7236\u628a\u4e24\u8005\u4e00\u8d77\u62ce\u8d70\u4e86\u3002”\u71d5\u8d75\u76f8\u5bf9\u6297\uff0c\u90fd\u641e\u5f97\u5f88\u75b2\u52b3\uff0c\u6211\u6050\u6015\u5f3a\u5927\u7684\u79e6\u56fd\u6b63\u5728\u626e\u6f14\u6e14\u7236\u7684\u89d2\u8272\uff0c\u6240\u4ee5\u5e0c\u671b\u5927\u738b\u6df1\u601d\u719f\u8651\u3002
\u60e0\u6587\u738b\u8d5e\u540c\u82cf\u4ee3\u7684\u610f\u89c1\uff0c\u505c\u6b62\u5bf9\u71d5\u56fd\u7528\u5175\u3002
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The Zhao State was taking up arms against the Yan State, and Su Dai (a military strategist during the Warring States period, and little brother to Su Qin of the School of Diplomacy) traveled to speak with King HuiWen of Zhao on behalf of the Yan State, and he told the following fable:
“When I was coming here I passed over some gentle water, and by chance I happened to see a clam sunning itself. A sandpiper seized the opportunity to peck at the clam’s meat, but the clam slammed the two wings of its hard shell shut on the sandpiper’s beak. The sandpiper said, ‘Today it won’t rain, tomorrow it won’t rain, and there will be one dead clam!’ The clam gave as good as he got, saying: ‘I won’t come out today, I won’t come out tomorrow (so your beak won’t be free), and there will be one dead sandpiper!’ Neither party was willing to give up, and at this time, a fisherman scooped them both up and carried them off. If Yan and Zhao oppose each other, we’ll both fight ourselves weary. I’m afraid the strong Qin State is playing the role of the fisherman, so I hope that your majesty will carefully deliberate on this matter.”
King HuiWen approved of SuDai’s message, and stopped using armed forces against the Yan State.
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