Not Feeling Cold in Snowing Days 雨雪而不寒

During the Warring States (475-221 BC), Yanzi was an outstanding prime minister of the state of Qi. The following story is recorded in ‘The Stories of Yanzi’.

Once during the reign of King Jing (?-490 BC) in the State of Qi, it had been snowing for three days without break. The King, dressed in a white fox fur cape, was sitting in a porch on one side of the palace.

Yan Zi (? – 500 BC), the Prime Minister, came to see the King. After he stood before the King for a while, the King spoke to him, ‘Strange, it has been snowing for three days without break, but still I don’t feel cold.’ Yan Zi asked, ‘Is it actually not cold?’

The King smiled. Yanzi spoke out again, ‘I have heard that the ancient kings of virtue knew that the people were hungry while they themselves were full, that the people were cold while they were warm and that the people were exhausted by hard work while they were in comfort and at leisure. How could Your Majesty know nothing of these?’

The King said, ‘Well said and I appreciate it.’ So he ordered that clothing and food be provided to the hungry and cold, regardless of their nationality and family background. There was also no need to write down their names. All government officials were given two month food supply and the sick two year food supply.

On hearing the case, Confucius said, ‘Yanzi knows what he wants and King Jing does what he does best.’

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晏子为战国时期（公元前475-221)齐国宰相。以下故事来自《晏子春秋》。

景公之时，雨雪三日而不霁，公被狐白之裘，坐堂侧陛。

晏子入见，立有间，公曰：“怪哉！雨雪三日而不寒。”晏子对曰：“天不寒乎？”

公笑。晏子曰：“婴闻之，古之贤君，饱而知人之饥，温而知人之寒，逸而知人之劳，今君不知也。”

公曰：“善！寡人闻命矣。”乃令出裘发粟与饥寒者。今所睹于途者，无问其乡；所睹于里者，无问其家；循国计数，无言其名。士既事者兼月，疾者兼岁。

孔子闻之曰：“晏子能明其所欲，景公能行其所善也。”

Resist the Aggression in the Banquet 折冲樽俎

The Warring States Period in the Chinese history covers the period from 476 BC to the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC. It is considered to be the second part of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, following the Spring and Autumn Period. The Warring States period was a period when regional warlords annexed smaller states around them and consolidated their rule. The warlords had earlier called themselves dukes of the Zhou dynasty king; but now they began to call themselves kings, meaning they were equal to the Zhou king.

Here is a story happened during the Warring Period.

King Ping of Jin wanted to attack the state of Qi. He dispatched an officer Fan Zhao to observe the political situation in Qi.

King Jing of Qi treated Fan Zhao to a drink of wine. When they were happy to drink, Fan said to King Jing, ‘I wish to drink with your cup.’ King Jing said, ‘Pour for our guest with my cup, please.’ After Fan finished drinking the wine from his own cup, Prime Minister Yan Zi instructed the waiter, ‘Withdraw the cup of King Jing and poured the wine with the Fan's cup for him still’.

Fan pretended to be drunk and dance grouchily, and then said to the Viceroy: ‘Can you performance the music of the Son of Heaven Zhou for me? I will dance with the music!’ The Viceroy answered: ‘I have not learnt that.’

Fan left the banquet. Duke Jing questioned Yan Zi, ‘Jin is a big state! They dispatched their officer to observe us. How do we do if we peeved their envoy?’ Yan Zi replied, ‘Fan Zhao is not someone who does not know ceremonial rites. He put down our state purposely to test us, so I would not pour for him with your cup.’ King Jing then asked the Viceroy, ‘Why didn’t you play for him the music of the Son of Heaven Zhou?’ The Viceroy said: ‘The music of the Son of Heaven Zhou can only be enjoyed by the Son of Heaven and only kings can dance with the music. Fan Zhao only a minister and yet he wanted to dance with the music of the Son of Heaven, so I cannot perform for him."

After Fan returned Jin, he told King Ping of Jin, ‘We cannot attack the state of Qi. Yan Zi knew I wanted to put down their king and the Viceroy knew I wanted to put down their ceremonial rites.’

After hearing the story, Confucius said: "Resist the aggression of the faraway enemy in the banquet. He is Yan Zi."

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在中国历史里，战国时期，由公元前476年到公元前221年秦统一中国为止。它属于后周（东周），在春秋之后。战国时期各诸侯并吞临近小国来巩固自己政权。之前，诸侯自称为周朝之‘公’，现在却开始称王，意思是与周王平等。

以下是发生在战国时期的一个故事。

晋平公欲伐齐，使范昭往观焉。

景公赐之酒，酣，范昭曰：“愿诣君之樽酌。”公曰： “酌寡人之樽，进之于客。”范昭已饮，晏子曰：“彻樽更之，樽觯具矣。”

范昭佯醉，不悦而起舞，请太师曰：“能为我调成周之乐乎？吾为子舞之。”太师曰：“冥臣不习。”

范昭趋而出。 景公谓晏子曰：“晋大国也，使人来，将观吾政也。今子怒大国之使者，将奈何？”晏子曰：“夫范昭之为人，非陋而不识礼也，且欲试吾君臣，故绝之也。”景公谓太师曰： “子何不为客调成周之乐乎？”太师对曰：“夫成周之乐，天子之乐也，若调之，必人主舞之。今范昭人臣也，而欲舞天子之乐，臣故不为也。”

范昭归以告平公曰：“齐未可伐也。臣欲试其君，而晏子识之；臣欲犯其礼，而太师知之。”

仲尼闻之曰：“夫不出于樽俎之间，而知千里之外,其晏子之谓也，可谓折衝矣。”

Aping the Beauty's Frown 丑女效颦

The most famous unlovely woman in China is a fabled one -- Dong Shi.

It was told by Zhuangzi – a Daoist philosopher who lived around 400 BC. He challenged Confucius' concepts of feudal laws and proprieties and contended that Confucius abided by laws and proprieties of the former Zhou dynasty that were unsuited to the current time and rule. He believed that conventions should be adapted to their times, as failure to do so would be as ridiculous as boating on land or dressing a monkey.

The story of Dong Shi is an example Zhuangzi gave to back up his argument, demonstrating that what made Dong Shi grotesque was not primarily her visage but her crude imitation. As time passed, the philosopher's reasoning on rule of state fell into oblivion, but his story of Dong Shi evolved into the household fable, a warning to people not to ape others.

Mencius is quoted as saying more than 2,000 years ago: ‘A rich and splendid spirit is beautiful.’ This opinion coincides with modern aesthetics. Real beauty exudes from the inner rather than the superficial self, and can stand the test of time.

Below is the fable told by Zhuangzi.

Xi Shi, a famous beauty, had a pain in her bosom, so she had a frown on her face when she went out.

An ugly girl who lived nearby saw her and thought she looked very beautiful. Therefore when she went home, she also put her hands on her bosom and had a frown on her face.

When a rich man in the neighbourhood saw her, he shut his doors tightly and did not go out. When a poor man saw her, he took his wife and children and gave her a wide berth.

The ugly lady only knew Xi Shi's frown looked beautiful but she did not know the reason for its beauty.

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最不令人喜爱的一个中国女人是一个寓言中的人物东施。

这是一个大约生活于公元前四世纪的道家哲学家庄子所说的寓言。庄子挑战孔子的封建法律与礼仪的概念，而认为孔子所尊赞的前朝周代的法律与礼仪并不适用于当时的时代与执政。他相信习俗应随时代而改变，不然，就好像路上行舟或为猴子穿衣那样荒谬。

以东施为例来支持他的论点，显示使东施丑怪的并不是她的容貌，而是肤浅的模仿。随着时间的过去，哲学家有关治理国家的理论已被遗忘，可是他的故事却成为家户喻晓的寓言，警劝人们不要一味模仿他人。

孟子就被引用在两千年前说过，‘充实谓之美’。这个说法与现代美学观点相符合。真正的美来自内心而不是表面的我，它能经历得起时间的考验。

下面是庄子所说的寓言。

西施病心而颦。

其里之丑人，见而美之，归亦捧心而颦。

其里之富人见之，坚闭门而不出；贫人见之，挈妻子而去之走。

彼知颦美，而不知颦之所以美。

Kua Fu Chasing the Sun 夸父追日

As conventionally used, ‘myth’ means one of two things: (1) stories of the gods or the creation of the world, things lying wholly in the supernatural domain, or (2) exaggerated or invented stories of humans or human events. Chinese myths are mostly of the second type. China does not, for example, see law as the gift of some deity, but as instituted by some culture heroes, men or women who triumph over obstacles.

Heroes are not all-powerful and immortal beings. Instead they represent the best of what it means to be human, demonstrating great strength, courage, wisdom, cleverness, or devotion.

One of those heroes in Chinese mythology is Kua Fu. The story of Kua Fu chasing the Sun has become the trope of man's determination and volition against nature. However, in modern day Chinese usage, the story of Kua Fu chasing the sun is used to describe a person who fails to obtain his goal because he greatly overestimates himself.

The story is Kua Fu is recorded in the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shan Hai Jing)’.

Kua Fu had a race with the Sun. He chased and got very close to the Sun, when he was too thirsty and hot to continue.

He drank all the water from the Yellow River and Wei River, but he still felt thirsty and hot. So, he marched northward for the lakes in the north of China. Unfortunately, he fell down and died halfway because of thirst.

He dropped his walking stick which turned into a stretch of peach, green and lush.

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一般上，神话用来表述两种事件：1。超自然的东西，如世界的创造、神的故事，或2。夸张的或创作出的有关人类或人类事件的故事。中国神话大多是第二类的故事。华人不认为规律是神鬼赠送的礼物，而认为是那些战胜自然障碍的英雄所制定的。

英雄并不是战无不胜、长生不老的生物。相反的，他们代表了人类意义中最完美的，先是强大的力量、勇气、智慧、智力与献身精神。

夸父就是中国神话中的一个英雄。‘夸父追日’的故事代表了人类要战胜自然的决心与意志。但是，现代华文用法却把《夸父追日》用来形容一个人由于自视过高而不能达到目的。

这个故事出自《山海经》。

夸父与日逐走，入日；渴，欲得饮，饮于河、渭；河、渭不足，北饮大泽。未至，道渴而死。弃其杖，化为邓林。

Mark the Boat to Find the Lost Sword 刻舟求剑

The Chinese proverb ‘Mark the Boat to Find the Lost Boat’ is always used to describe a person does not change his strategy even when the circumstances change. The term is used to mock those who are sticklers for adhering to old models. It comes from the following story which dates back to the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC).

“Once upon a time, a man from Chu state, who was crossing the river by boat, dropped his sword to the river. He marked the boat where the sword dropped, and he said, ‘This is where I drop my sword.’

When the boat stopped at the opposite bank, the man undressed himself immediately and dove into the water for his sword from the very place where he had made the mark.

The boat had moved a great distance since he made the mark, and the dropped sword did not move an inch. Isn’t foolish to find the dropped sword by making a mark on a moving boat?”

The central lesson behind this saying is the need to understand what is relevant to the situation, and then do it at the right place and at the right time. If one does not understand the situation, then one may not take action even if it is needed. Alternatively, we may take the wrong action. Sometimes, like the man in the story, we may see the situation correctly at that point, but delay in doing the right thing to tackle the challenge thinking that we can always do it later. But with a change of timing, a right action may become utterly useless.

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成语‘刻舟求剑’一般用来形容一个人死守旧策略不变，虽然情况已经改变，用来嘲笑那些墨守陈规的人。故事发生于春秋时代（公元前770年至476年）（战国•吕不韦《吕氏春秋•察今》）：

“楚人有涉江者，其剑自舟中坠于水，遽契其舟曰：‘是吾剑之所从坠。’

舟止，从其所契者入水求之。

舟已行矣，而剑不行，求剑若此，不亦惑乎？”

这句话的要点是我们应该认清适当情况，在适当时机作适当的事。如果一个人不认清情况，在需要时就可能不会行动。相反地，我们还可能作出错误的行动。正如这个故事里人，有时候我们所做的在某个时刻可能是对的，可是把所要处理的挑战的时机给耽误了，以为可以延后处理，随着时间的改变，一个本来正确的行动可能会变成完全无用。