Category: Chinese Words&Phrases

故事Story Sānguó shíqī, Liú bèi tīngshuō Zhūgě liàng shì yí gè nándé de réncái. Wèile qǐng Zhūgě liàng bāngzhù zìjǐ jiàngōng lìyè, Liú bèi céngjīng sāncì qīnzì dào Zhūgě liàng zhù de máolú bàifǎng tā. Zhūgě liàng kàn dào Liú bèi fēicháng chéngkěn, zhōngyú tóngyì jiàn Liú bèi le. Jiànmiàn zhīhòu, Liú bèi xiàng tā qǐngjiāo le xǔduō zhìlǐ guójiā de fāngfǎ. Zhūgě liàng bāng Liú bèi zǎi xì fēnxī le dāngshí de qíngshì, jiànyì Liú bèi xiān zhànjù Jīngzhōu, zhèyàng cái néng yǒu jīhuì hé Cáo cāo、Sūn quán dǐngzú ér lì.
三国时期，刘备听说诸葛亮是一个难得的人才。为了请诸葛亮帮助自己建功立业，刘备曾经三次亲自到诸葛亮住的茅庐拜访他。诸葛亮看到刘备非常诚恳，终于同意见刘备了。见面之后，刘备向他请教了许多治理国家的方法。诸葛亮帮刘备仔细分析了当时的情势，建议刘备先占据荆州，这样才能有机会和曹操、孙权鼎足而立。During the Three Kingdoms Period, Liu Bei heard that Zhuge Liang has exceptional talent. In order to ask him to help set up the country, Liu Bei attempted to meet Zhuge Liang three separate times, in order to ask him to help establish the country. After the failed meetings he finally agreed to meet Liu because of his sincerity. After the meeting, Liu asked him which methods should be used to govern the state. Zhuge Liang helped Liu carefully analyze the current situation and then suggested he first occupy Jingzhou. Only then would it be possible to match the power of Cao Cao and Sun Quan.
Liú bèi hěn xīnshǎng Zhūgě liàng de cáihuá, hé Zhūgě liàng de gǎnqíng yě zhújiàn jiā shēn. Tā gāoxìng de gēn biérén shuō:” Wǒ dé dào Zhūgě liàng de bāngzhù, jiù hǎo xiàng yú’ér dé dào le shuǐ yíyàng.”
刘备很欣赏诸葛亮的才华，和诸葛亮的感情也逐渐加深。他高兴地跟别人说：“我得到诸葛亮的帮助，就好像鱼儿得到了水一样。” Liu Bei admired Zhuge Liang’s talent very much and gradually strengthened their relationship. He happily told others, “With the help of Zhuge Liang, I feel like a fish in water”.
词语注释Explanation
难得(nándé): hard to come by(v.)
建功立业( jiàngōng lìyè): build up establishment(v.)
茅庐( máolú): thatched cottage(n. )
请教( qǐngjiào):consult(v.)
情势( qíngshì) : state of affairs(n.)
占据(zhànjù)： inhibit(v.)
鼎足而立( dǐng zú ér lì): standing like a tripod — a tripartite balance of forces(n.)

百闻不如一见 bǎi wén bù rú yī jiàn Hàncháo de shíhòu, wàizú jīngcháng qīnfàn zhōngyuán. Huángdì xiǎng ràng yí wèi xìng Zhào de lǎo jiāngjūn dàibīng chūzhēng, dàn zhèshí tā yǐjīng qīshí duō suì le, huángdì pài rén qù wèn tā kě bù kě yǐ chūzhēng, Zhào jiāngjūn hěn zìxìn dì huídá:” Wǒ qù zuì héshì le.” Huángdì yòu pài rén qù wèn:” Qǐng jiāngjūn gūjì yí xià dírén de qíngkuàng, tāmen de bīnglì zěnmeyang, gāi pài qù duōshǎo rénmǎ?” Zhào jiāngjūn huí dá:” Bǎi wén bù rú yí jiàn. Duìfāng jūnshì shàng de qíngkuàng rúhé, zài hòufāng hěn nán zhǔnquè de gūjì, háishì ràng wǒ shàng qiánfāng liáojiě zài lái zhìdìng cèluè ba!” Tā yàoqiú huángdì bǎ rènwù jiāo gěi tā, búbì dānyōu. Huángdì jiù xiào zhe dāyìng le. Hòulái tā lǐngbīng yíng zhàn wàizú, dà huò quán shèng.
汉朝的时候，外族经常侵犯中原。皇帝想让一位姓赵的老将军带兵出征，但这时他已经七十多岁了，皇帝派人去问他可不可以出征，赵将军很自信地回答：“我去最合适了。”皇帝又派人去问：“请将军估计一下敌人的情况，他们的兵力怎么样，该派去多少人马？”赵将军回答：“百闻不如一见。对方军事上的情况如何，在后方很难准确地估计，还是让我上前方了解了解再来制定策略吧！”他要求皇帝把任务交给他，不必担忧。皇帝就笑着答应了。后来他领兵迎战外族，大获全胜。In the Han Dynasty, foreign tribes often attacked the region of Han. The emperor wanted to ask an old general surnamed Zhao to go out to battle. But he was already over seventy. The emperor sent somebody to ask him if he could go on an expedition. With confidence, General Zhao answered, “I’m the best person to do it”. Then the emperor sent another person to ask him, “Please evaluate the situation of the enemy. How are their armed forces, and how many troops should we deploy?” General Zhao answered, “Seeing is believing. It’s difficult to evaluate the enemy’s military situation. So let me formulate a strategy after I go to the frontier.”He requested the emperor to assign the task to him and not to be worried. The emperor agreed with a smile. Later, he led troops to fight against the enemy and gained a complete victory.

百发百中Bǎifā-bǎizhòng
Yǎng Yóujī shì wǒ guó gǔdài zhùmíng de shèjiàn néngshǒu. Zài Chǔ Gòngwáng shí, háiyǒu yí gè shàn shè de rén, míng jiào Pān dǎng, nénggòu měi jiàn dōu shè zhòng jiànbǎ de bǎ hóngxīn. Yǎng Yóujī duì tā shuō: “zhè hái bú suàn běnshì, yào néng zài bǎibù zhī wài shè zhòng yángliǔ yèzǐ, cái suàn chàbùduō le.” Pān dǎng tīng le yǐ hòu bù fúqì, dāngjì xuǎn dìng yáng liǔ shù shàng de sān piàn yè zǐ, bìng biāo míng hào shù, jiào Yǎng Yóujī tuì dào bǎibù zhī wài, shùnxù shè qù. Yǎng Yóujī lián shè sān jiàn, guǒrán, dì yī jiàn zhòng yīhào yèxīn, dì èr jiàn zhòng èrhào yèxīn, dì sān jiàn zhòng sānhào yèxīn, sān jiàn dōu fēicháng zhǔnquè dì shè zhòng le mùbiāo.
养由基是我国古代著名的射箭能手。在楚共王时，还有一个善射的人，名叫潘党，能够每箭都射中箭靶的靶红心。养由基对他说：“这还不算本事，要能在百步之外射中杨柳叶子，才算差不多了。”潘党听了以后不服气，当即选定杨柳树上的三片叶子，并标明号数，叫养由基退到百步之外，顺序射去。养由基连射三箭，果然，第一箭中一号叶心，第二箭中二号叶心，第三箭中三号叶心，三箭都非常准确地射中了目标。Yang Youji was a famous archer in the ancient times in the state of Chu. During the period Chu was ruled by Chu Gongwang, there was another famous archer, Pan Dang. Every his shot hit the target.
Yang Youji said to Pan Dang, "This cannot be counted as a great skill. If you can shoot the leaves of a willow tree from one hundred paces away, it can be considered as more or less a great skill." Pan Dang was not convinced. He chose three leaves from a willow tree and marked them. He asked Yang Youji to shoot them from a hundred pace away in order. Yang Youji gave three shots. Without any surprise, the first shot hit the middle of the first leave, the second shot hit the middle of the second leave and the third shot hit the middle of the third leave. All of the three shots have hit the targets precisely.