Defeat is Clear: Songs of Chu on All Sides 四面楚歌

At the end of the Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC), the State of Chu and the State of Han fought for control of the country. It is said that ordinary men placed in extraordinary circumstances can accomplish great deeds. Great strategists of old understood this fact, and took care to place their men in these situations to bring the best out of them, and likewise took care to deprive their enemies of this situational advantage whenever they could. At no time is this more important when one is about to vanquish one’s enemy; a job 9o% done is not done, and a slight mishap toward the end could undo all of one’s past victories and successes. Such was the case during the endgame stages of the struggle between Han and Chu around 202 BC.

Han armies had all but secured victory over Chu, trapping Xiang Yu, Chu’s leader, and what was left of his army at Gaixia. A lesser strategist may have been content with simply awaiting the eventual last charge that Chu would make to attempt to break out of its entrapment. However, Zhang Liang,Han’s strategist, knew that Xiang Yu was a fierce warrior, a beast of a man whose battlefield prowess was such that mere mention of his name struck fear into the hearts of men.

Zhang knew that Xiang’s troops, cornered and hungry, could be stirred by their leader’s charisma and determination for one last fight, while his own troops, slightly complacent with victory in plain sight, would be vulnerable in this last battle. Victory for Han was far from certain in Zhang’s mind, and he devised a plan to weaken the wills of Chu’s soldiers.

As Han troops were preparing for their charge, they sang folksongs of Chu, which rang off the mountains on all four sides of the surrounded Chu troops. Zhang had ordered his own troops to sing Chu’s songs in an effort to stir up nostalgia among Xiang’s troops and weaken their will to fight. Xiang himself, on hearing the songs of Chu, realized that his time was running short.

‘Songs of Chu on all sides’ now is a Chinese proverb used to describe and a situation that is desperate beyond hope and a defeat is clear.

Shima Qian described what happened at Gaixia in the ‘Records of Grant Historian’:

Xiang Yu’s army at Gaixia, with only a handful of troops and running out of supplies, was hemmed in by the men of Han and the other states. At night he heard the songs of Chu on all sides around him. ‘Has Han already captured Chu?’ he asked in dismay, ‘They have so many men of Chu with them.’

He rose that night to drink in his tent. With him was the lovely Lady Yu, who followed wherever he went, and Zhui, the swift steed which he always rode. Now Xiang Yu chanted a tragic air, setting words to himself:

My strength can uproot mountains,

My spirit puts the world at my feet;

But the times are against me,

And Zhui can gallop nor more.

When Zhui gallop no more,

What can I do?

Oh, lady, my dear lady,

What is to become of Lady Yu?

He sang this song several times and Lady Yu joined in. Tears rolled down his cheeks, while all his followers wept and bowed their heads in sorrow.

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秦末，楚汉争霸。据说，人在困境，最大潜力才能被发挥。大策略家都懂得这一点，会尽量把他的人员放在非寻常环境中以达到最好效果，同时确保敌人不会在相同的情况中得到好处。在胜败关键时刻，这就显得更重要了。行百里者半九十，小小差错，就会功亏一篑了。公元前202年楚汉争霸时，就出现了这种情况。

汉军队只要打败楚军就胜利了。他们把楚王项羽所剩军队团团包围在垓下。对一个普通的战略家而言，只需静待楚军突围，就可一举歼灭。

但是，汉策略家张良知道项羽是个勇士，他在战场上的威力，他的名字就足以令人闻而丧胆。张良知道项羽的军队被困缺粮，很容易被他们那具有魅力与决心的领袖激励而奋起最后一战；而汉军却因胜利在望而有点自满，这在最后一战就是致命弱点。在张良在心中，汉军的胜利还不肯定，所以他就拟订了一个软化楚军的计划。

就在汉军准备攻击时，他们开始唱楚国的歌曲，充满了山地，在被团团包围了的楚军的四面。张良下令他的军队唱楚歌来引起楚军思想情怀，削弱他们的战斗力。当项羽听到楚歌是，他知道他的时间不多了。

‘四面楚歌’就成为用来形容绝望的情况，失败以不可避免的一句成语。

西汉史学家司马迁《史记•项羽本纪》记载当时在垓下的情况：

项王军壁垓下，兵少食尽，汉军及诸侯兵围之数重。夜闻汉军四面皆楚歌，项王乃大惊，曰：‘汉皆已得楚乎？是何楚人之多也。’

项王则夜起，饮帐中。有美人名虞，常幸从；骏马名骓，常骑之。于是项王乃悲歌慷慨，自为诗曰：‘力拔山兮气盖世，时不利兮骓不逝。骓不逝兮可奈何！虞兮虞兮奈若何！’

歌数阕，美人和（hè 第四声 附和，应和）之。项王泣数行下。左右皆泣，莫能仰视。

Liu Bang: Why am I successful? 刘邦：吾所以有天下者何？

In 202 BC, Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu and established the Han Dynasty. Liu Bang is historically known as Emperor Gaozu.

However, if you compare the two men personality-wise, Liu Bang was a small man while Xiang Yu was often portrayed as the honourable, magnanimous (even romantic), and courageous leader. It was said that Liu Bang had kicked his two children off a cart so that he can escape. According to what Sima Qian wrote, he grabbed the hat of a Confucian scholar and urinated into it. He was also a big womanizer, cunning and very tricky.

But, one may say that Liu Bang was successful because he had political vision, and knew how to attract, retain, and reward talent. Many people from Xiang Yu's camp went over to Liu Bang's due to this reason. Xiang Yu only rewarded favourites of his.

Although Xiang Yu had courage and was devoted fully to his concubine Yuji, his weak points were that he was soft hearted and often ignored the advice of his chief councillor Fan Zeng. For example during Hongmen banquet, Fan wanted Xiang Yu to do away with Liu Bang by using a sword dance. Xiang Yu took no action despite his chief councillor's urges. Liu Bang came out of the party alive instead. If you switch roles, with Liu being the host and Xiang Yu being the target of the sword dance, most likely Liu Bang would waste no time in ensuring Xiang Yu's death. Xiang Yu's inaction at the banquet showed that he was magnanimous and stupid at the same time!

Shima Qian recorded the following in his ‘Records of the Grant Historian’:

While entertaining his generals and officials at a grand banquet after he took the throne, Liu Bang posed this question, ‘My beloved generals and officials, what do you think that made me defeat the powerful Xiang Yu and become the only emperor of the country?’

Gao Qi and Wang Ling replied, ‘My Highness, though you treat you subordinates arrogantly and rudely, you know whom to put in what position so that they can do what they are best at. You maintain a clear and explicit system of rewards and punishments so that people work for you willingly. Xiang Yu, on the other hand, appeared to be courteous and polite, but deep in his heart he was conceited and arrogant. He only trusted his kinsmen who, even when they turned out to be useless, were still placed in important positions. Those who were not related to him by blood were never put in important posts, even when they had rare talents. After his men won victories, he never rewarded them nor shared the profits from his land with them. I believe these are the factors brought his doom.’

Liu Bang said, ‘There is truth in what you say. However your answer is not complete. In making a long-term military plan, I am no match for Zhang Liang; in running a country and providing food and payment, I am no match for Xiao He; in commanding the army and fighting on the battlefield, I am no match for Han Xin. But when these three rare talents worked for me, how could I not succeed? Look at Xiang Yu, all he had was Fan Zeng and more often than not, he refused to accept Fan’s suggestions. These are the reasons for his failure.’

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公元前202年，刘邦打败项羽，成立汉朝。历史上，刘邦被称为高祖。

但是，如果我们比较两人的个性，刘邦可说是个小人，而项羽却被形容为一个令人尊敬的、度量大的（甚至是浪漫的）与英勇的领袖。据说刘邦曾经把他的孩子从车上踢下来，自己逃难。据司马迁记载，他也曾经用一个学者的帽来小便。他爱搞女人、狡猾与善于托辞。

不过，我们可以说刘邦之所以成功，因为他有政治眼光，知道如何吸引、收留及奖赏人才。因为这个原因，不少项羽的人改随刘邦。项羽只会奖赏他的宠臣。

虽然项羽有勇气，完全忠于他的爱妾虞姬，他的弱点是他有妇人之仁，时常不接纳他的谋臣范增的谋略。例如，在鸿门宴中，范增要乘着剑舞把刘邦杀掉。虽然范增一直在催促，项羽却不肯行动。刘邦因此逃过死劫。如果换成刘邦乘设宴以剑舞来杀掉项羽，刘邦把项羽除去的可能性是很大的。项羽不肯在宴会中有所行动，显示他有度量，同时也非常愚蠢。

司马迁在《史记》中有以下的记载：

高祖置酒雒阳南宫。高祖曰：‘列侯诸将无敢隐朕，皆言其情。吾所以有天下者何？项氏之所以失天下者何？’

高起、王陵对曰：‘陛下慢而侮人，项羽仁而爱人。然陛下使人攻城略地，所降下者因以予之，与天下同利也。项羽妒贤嫉能，有功者害之，贤者疑之，战胜而不予人功，得地而不予人利，此所以失天下也。’

高祖曰：‘公知其一，未知其二。夫运筹策帷帐之中，决胜於千里之外，吾不如子房。镇国家，抚百姓，给餽饟，不绝粮道，吾不如萧何。连百万之军，战必胜，攻必取，吾不如韩信。此三者，皆人杰也，吾能用之，此吾所以取天下也。项羽有一范增而不能用，此其所以为我擒也。’

The Earth Spirit and Officer Cui 地仙与崔生

Officer Cui committed a mistake and was banished to Guang Dong province. Dong did not bring his wife and concubine along as he thought it would not be safe for them to travel the long journey. Whilst there he was homesick and often felt very lonely. Whenever he thought of his family, he felt sad. Then he came to befriend an old man called Dong. They soon became quite close to each other. One day, they had dinner together. Although it was a beautiful full moon nigh. Cui was not in the mood to drink with his friend. Dong smiled and said, ‘Are you thinking of your wife and concubine? Please trust me, I, your good friend, am making arrangement for your family to join you. I have not told you about it as I am not sure whether it can be done. Perhaps we will know in a month’s time.’

Another half year went by and one day Dong suddenly ordered the servants to cleanup new rooms urgently. Shortly after that, three sedan chairs arrived and out came Cui’s wife, his concubine and a young maid. Cui was overjoyed and asked what had happened. His wife told him that they received a letter from him asking them to follow an official’s family to travel here. She had therefore to hurriedly hand over the family’s houses and farm to Chu’s brother. Cui’s brother would collect the rents on his behalf and send here yearly. He then asked where the maid came from. It was replied that during the journey here, they saw that she was put up for sale as she could not get along with her mistress. His wife bought her over at low cost. Cui was overjoyed with tears and thanked Dong for making his dream came true.

A few months later, Dong said to Cui, ‘The young maid joined us on your wife’s journey here, and she is going through this hardship with us, you may say this is fated. May be you should make her your concubine, so that she will not feel lonely without a family.’

A few years went by. Cui’s pardon was finally announced and he could now return home. Cui was so happy that he could not sleep at night. However, the three ladies appeared to be sad as though they are going to be separated from Cui. Cui consoled them, ‘Are you thinking of how to repay Dong for what he has done to help us? As long as we are alive, we will repay him one day.’ They did not reply, merely packed Cui’s belongings quietly in preparation for his return journey.

On the day of departure, Dong hosted a feast for Cui. He called out the three ladies and said, ‘I think the time has come for me to tell you the whole truth.’ He then bowed to Cui and continued, ‘I am actually an Earth Spirit. We were colleagues during our previous lives. We were both posted out and I died in office away from home. You have gone to great lengths to arrange and escorted my body back home and handed over to my wife. I was immensely grateful to you. I wanted to repay my debt to you but was unable to bring your family here due to the long distance. So I enlisted the help of three fairies in order to cheer you up. I first sent them to your own home to observe and imitate the mannerism of your wife and your concubine and also to learn all the family details so that when they come to impersonate your close companions your suspicion wouldn’t be aroused. As they are three sisters and that is why one of them serves as your maid. All these are actually illusions. Please do not think further, just return home and reunion with your wife and concubine. At home, things will return to normal as though you are living here.’ Cui requested that the three ladies went home with him. Dong told him that that could not be done as the three ladies did not belong to the earthly world. As the three ladies shaked hands to say goodbye with Cui, their tears flowed out freely. Cui then boarded the boat and by the time he turned his head around, all four of them had already disappeared.

At home, his wife told him that since he left, the family had no means to maintain a living and had to depend on the yearly remittances sent by him to pay for household expenses. That is how they survived till now. It was clear that Dong was the one who sent the money.

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以下故事来自《阅微草堂笔记》：

有崔生者，以罪戍广东，恐携孥有意外，乃留其妻妾只身行。到戍后，穷愁抑郁，殊不自聊，且回思少妇登楼，弥增忉怛。偶遇一叟，自云姓董，字无念，言颇契，愍其流落，延为子师，亦甚相得。一夕宾主夜酌，楼高月满，忽动离怀，把酒倚栏，都忘酬酢。叟笑曰：君其有云鬟玉臂之感乎？托在契末，已早为经纪，但至否未可知，故先不奉告，旬月后当有耗耳。

又半载，叟忽戒僮婢扫治别室，意甚匆遽，顷之，则三小肩舆至，妻妾及一婢揭帘出矣。惊喜怪问，皆曰：得君信相迓，嘱随某官眷属至，急不能久待，故草草来，家事托几房几兄代治，约岁得租米，岁岁鬻金寄至矣。问婢何来，曰：即某官之媵，嫡不能容，以贱价就舟中鬻得也。生感激拜叟，至于涕零，从此完聚成家，无复故园之梦。

越数月，叟谓生曰：此婢中途邂逅，患难相从，当亦是有缘，似当共侍巾栉，无独使向隅也。又数载遇赦得归，生喜跃不能寝，而妻妾及婢俱惨惨有离别之色。生慰之曰：尔辈念主人恩耶？倘不死，会有日相报耳。皆不答，惟趣为生治装。

濒行，翁治酒作饯，并呼三女出曰：今日事须明言矣。因拱手对生曰：老夫地仙也，过去生中，与君为同官，殁后君百计营求，归吾妻子，恒耿耿不忘，今君别鹤离鸾，自合为君料理，但山川绵邈，二孱弱女子，何以能来，因摄招花妖先至君家中半年，窥尊室容貌语言，摹拟具似，并刺知家中旧事，便君有证不疑，渠本三姊妹，故多增一婢耳，渠皆幻相，君勿复思，到家相对旧人，仍与此间无异矣。生请与三女俱归，叟曰：鬼神各有地界，可暂出不可久越也。三女握手作别，洒泪沾衣。俯仰间已俱不见，登舟时遥见立岸上，招之不至。

归后，妻子具言家日落，赖君岁岁寄金来，得活至今，盖亦此叟所为也。

Tiger Year Predictions 虎年运程

The Year of Tiger began on 14 February 2010. The year of the Tiger is traditionally associated with massive changes and social upheaval. Therefore, it will bring far reaching changes for everyone. For this year in particular, it is said to be ‘inauspicious’ because, though many countries are already out of recession however there would still be 4 key issues like : natural disasters, financial difficulties, political changes and environmental matters.

However, there is good news as well. New inventions and incredible technological advances have a good chance of occurring. For all of the Chinese horoscope signs, this year is one to be active - seizing opportunities and making the most of our personal and very individual talents. Everything happens quickly and dramatically in a Tiger year – blink and you could miss an important chance of a lifetime!

There seems to be some agreements among the geomancers that businesses involving fire and mental would do well in 2010.

The properties of fire include warm and gives off heat. Fire industries are those related to electrical products, stock markets, restaurants, lightings shops, fast food chains, bakery shops, accounting firms.

The properties of metal include hard and piercing. Metal Industries are those related to banking, machineries and equipments, law, fortunetelling, gold jewellery, robotics, steel, vehicles.

More countries would experience some economic recovery. The world would seem to be more on an agreeable mood than confrontations. China would lead the world in economic recovery and really move ahead. There would be high officials stepping down in China. Taiwan would intensify its tie with China, laying out solid passage to unification of China. Nevertheless, some natural disasters may still exist.

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虎年开始于阳历二月十四日。传统上，虎年都与大变革及社会动乱有关联。所以，它会为每个人带来深远的改变。特别是今年，一般认为‘不吉利’，因为世界还是面对四大难题：自然灾害、金融危机、政治变革与环境问题。

但是，也有好消息。新的发明与惊人的科技的出现的机会很高。所有的中国的星占都显示今年是活跃的一年，很多人都会抓紧机会，尽量利用个人的才华。在虎年里，每一样事情都发生得很快，一眨眼，又就可能失去一生中最难得的机会。

风水师好像一般都认为在2010年，有关‘火’与‘金’的行业会做得不错。

火的属性是温暖与放热。与火有关的行业包括：电子产品、股市、餐饮业、灯火店、快餐连锁店、面包店、会计楼。

金的属性是硬与锋利。与金有关的行业包括：银行、机械设备、法律、算命、金饰、机器人、金属、汽车。

很多国家会经验的经济复苏。世界各国也较倾向协调而不是对抗。中国会领导世界的经济复苏并实质的向前迈进。在中国会有高官下台。台湾会加强与中国的联系，为迈向统一的中国铺平结实道路。但是，会有一些天灾。