Ancient Chinese Stories: Mencius and King Xiang’s Tale

Ancient Chinese Story: The Tale Of Mencius and King Xiang of Liang

 

Hey everyone, welcome back to the ancient Chinese story blog. On this post today, as you can see, I will be discussing Mencius who is arguably Confucius’ most well known students. Note that Mencius however did live long after Confucius died but in the same time dynasty known of the Zhou dynasty. Today’s story is an about the encounter between Mencius and King Hui of Liang. I will be translating this story from the ancient Chinese text. Enjoy.

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Meng Zi had an audience wuth King Xiang of Liang; after he left he told someone, “Looking at him from a distance, he didn’t look like a ruler of men and when I was before him, I saw nothing in him to be in awe of him for. Immediately upon seeing me the king asked, ‘How can the world be pacified?’ I answered, ‘It can  be pacified with unfication of the world.’ He then asked, ‘And who can unify the world?’ I replied, ‘One who does not enjoy killing people can unify the world.’ King Xiang then asked me, “Who can give him right to pacify the world?’ I replied, ‘Everybody in the world will give him the right. Your majesty knows aboout sprouts, correct? In the time of the seventh and eighth month, if there is a drought, the sprouts shall wither. Heaven makes clouds abundant and it copiously  rains; then the sprouts suddenly spring up. If this happens, who can stop it? Of the rulers today, there are none that do not enjoy killing people. If there were one who wasn’t fond of slaughter, the people of the world  would all look in his direction stretching out their necks. If this really were to happen, the people would all seek refuge in him like water flowing downward. They would be copious as water; who could stop them?’ “

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While the ancient Chinese story is short, it shows us the Mencian view of what is a good ruler. He believed that to be a good ruler one would have to be good in nature as well as have it fully cultivated for humans in his eyes were good in nature but because of what was happening around them, they had become dark and filled with hatred. This story is used today by many to teach that it is a benevolent ruler which rules the best; even in Chinese history all the greatest ruylers supposedly were very kind and compassionate beings. So you can see in ancient Chinese culture that Mencius did have a fairly large effect as his grandmaster Confucius did (yet still no where as close). Mencius only added human nature into the philosophy which Confucius did not want to go near; as a result, many other philosophers began to debate with Mencius whether humans were good or evil in nature and there are many stories and tales of this to be found.

Today’s ancient Chinese story photo is a shadow dragon which is Chinese. You can tell it is a Chinese dragon because it has five claws, and if it were in more classical Chinese times, a five clawed dragon meant you were of the emperor’s family. If you were caught with the Dragon on your robes with five claws, you would be executed for it. Till the next Ancient Chinese Stories post. As always, feel free to comment me and I will get back to you via e-mail.

Ancient Chinese Poetry A Story Of Li Bai’s Self-Abandonment

Self Abandonment by Li Bai

Hey everyone, welcome back to the ancient Chinese stories blog, today I am in a more poetic mood and thought I would introduce you to Li Bai to those new to Chinese Poetry. Now Li Bai was and still is one of China’s most famous poets from the Tang Dynasty (as well as all Chinese history for that matter). He is known for writing very Buddhist style Chinese poetry and did not really seem to enjoy Confucianism. It is said that Li Bai tried his hand at the civil service exams and failed, so he gave up and went on to write poetry based on the individual more so than the Confucian methods of poets like Dufu. He was considered the rogue poet of his time and also was a bit of an alcoholic which seems to hold some truth if you look at his poetry. With that said, today’s Chinese Poem is titled Self-Abandonment; I will not be the one who translated this poem, but it is our excellent scholar Arthur Waley’s translation.

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I sat drinking and did not notice the dusk,

Till falling petals filled the folds of my dress.

Drunken I rose and walked to the moonlit stream;

the Birds were gone, and men also few.

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A note about drinking that I should mention in Chinese culture in those times: drinking was socially acceptable when you were with a group of people. In most of the Chinese poems written by Li Bai he drinks alone and that was considered very anti-social. the result being that this is why many say that Li Bai was the renegade poet of his time and an alcoholic; interestingly enough it is said he  drank too much one night, passed out and fell into the lake and drowned and some say he just drank himself to death, there are various ideas on how he died (no one is quite certain). Mind you however it is not really for certain known how this poet died. To this day his poetry is some the best known not only in China, but throughout the world. Till the next Ancient Chinese Story post everyone.  Feel free to comment as always if you need the Ancient Chinese Story Owner Joseph Ahdoot.

Ancient Chinese Stories:The Old Tale Of The Black Bear Rescuing The Old Man

黑熊救命

Hey everyone welcome back to the ancient Chinese Stories blog. Today’s tale is supposedly an ancient tale from norhtern China passed down from generation to generation. The ancient story is called The Black Bear Rescues A Life. This ancient Chinese story for today I will be translating from Chinese into English myself. and the story itself will be coming from my Chinese Textbook that I was using in my last year of college. Enjoy the ancient Chinese story everyone.

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Once upon a time in the early spring, in the northern mountain lands of China, a tale had begun to spread-the tale of the black bear who saved Lao He’s life.

On that day, Lao He was on his way back home, traveled over 30 li on the road and kept traveling until he arrived to an ice sealed rivers. As he was thinking about continuing on the path, he suddenly heard all around him the ice beginning to crack; now he wanted to turn back but it was already too late and he fell through into the frozen river Both of his hands clinged on to the ices edge as he desperately tried to climb out but the ice continued cracking quicker and quicker and he was so low on energy he began to lose consciousness…

Just then a sound resembling the cry of an animal came to Lao He’s ears calling out：he felt his body being dragged out of the river. Not so shortly after, he passed out…

As the sun set over the mountain, Lao He gradually began to regain consciousness, and realized he was lying down next to the river on top of a dirt bank, he began to wonder how is it he arrived there since he could not remember how he was pulled out from the river. At that time, He saw only two black bears not so far from him sitting and they were looking at him. Only on their heads was there sine white fur under their mouth’s and they were still were still howling to him non stop.

“Ah, it was Xiao Bai (little white)! It must have been both xiao bai and its mother who rescued me!” Lao He anxiously sat upright: waving to them he yelled out, “Xiao Bai! Xiao Bai!” Those two white mouthed black bears, suddenly ran away fast….

3 years after that day, Lao He was working on the mountain, when he suddenly heard from the center of the mountain some animal crying out; so he picked up his axe and went to the sound. With a head over two feet long,  it was a small black bear and its forehead was covered in long white fur: one of its back legs was trapped under a stone. He could still see the head of a large black bear walking around and turning its head, reluctant to leave it stayed close to the back of the stone and stayed near a nearby tree in the forest. Once Xiao Bai saw a person, it got even scarder and began to desperately screaming trying to pull its leg out…Lao He squatted down and slowly moved towards the bear. Using his axe, he broke the stone into fragments which the bears leg was trapped by and freed its leg. But it only took a few steps and it was in such pain that it sat down. Lao He immediately carried Xiao Bai back to his home and carefully put some pit some medicine onto Xiao Bai’s leg and the terrible pain stopped. The little bear began to recognize him and began to understand what was happening: it looked up and slowly walked over to the edge of the kang. Under Lao He’s care and treatment, it was not long until all of the little bear’s pain was and slowly was able to walk again. When Lao He cooked, the little bear would not leave his side: when he went to work on the mountain, the little bear would also always be close to his side. Lao He really liked the little bear, and called it by the name of, “Xiao Bai.”

One evening, Xiao Bai’s mother came into the courtyard woefully calling. Xiao Bai excitedly realized it and ran out. Lao He understood: the mother bear came to take her child, so he immediately opened the door and took Xiao Bai out to her. Since then a few days had passed and Lao He didn’t see Xiao Bai, and Lao He extremely missed it.

About 5 days later one evening, Lao He was sleeping when he woke up to the cry of an animal. He excitedly got to the door and through the moonlight looked outside; Xiao Bai had returned. Lao He excitedly cooked some grains for Xiao Bai who ate its fill and then jumped onto the kang where it once slept and began to sleep once more. Since then Xiao Bai has become Lao He’s outside guest, every time Xiao Bai comes, Lao He let’s Xiao Bai eat to its content. If for a long time it would not come,  Lao He would put food outside for both Xiao Bai and its mother: over a long time, Lao He would always stay best friends with the two black bears.

Today, Lao He never even dreamed or thought that in his life, in the most dangerous time, that Xiao Bai and it’s mother would be the ones to save him.

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So that was today’s ancient Chinese story. If you do ask southern Chinese people of this tale, no one really ever has heard of it, but I have asked some northern Chinese of these stories and about a third of the people had an idea as to what it was. I chose to leave his name as Lao He rather than constantly saying old man He. For those of you who do not know, in ancient times in China, they would use the Kang which is a brick bed to keep warm in the winter because you could heat some of the bricks helping keep warm in areas where weather can get freezing such as Ji Lin. Now, the kang is no longer used in many parts thanks to heating technology. I am not sure when exactly this particular story began to come into existence but from what I understand, it is not too old of a Chinese story but it does come from the Ming dynasty.

Before I end todays story post I wish to say I will only be writing occasionally the ancient Chinese stories for the blog, but any who have concerns are free to contact me.  Till the next story everyone.

Ancient Chinese Poetry: A Chinese Poem By A Tartar

家

Hey everyone, welcome back to the ancient Chinese story blog. Today I will be showing a poem from the times of disunity after the fall of the Han dynasty. The poem is by a Tartar named Altun who lived from 486-566 A.D.  His poem is a song he sang about his home. Today, I will not be using my own translation since I do not have the original Chinese text so I will be using Arthur Waley’s translation of this poem. It is known as Tchirek Song. Enjoy todays Chinese Poetry.

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Tchirek River

Lies under the Dark Mountains:

Where the sky is like the sides of a tent

Stretched down over the Great Steppe.

The sky is gray, gray:

And the steppe wide, wide:

Over grass that the wins has battered low

Sheep and oxen roam.

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Altun is interesting because he sang this song since he could not read or write. For anyone interested his name is Gold in Chinese. He is one of many groups of nomads along the northern Chinese frontier of those days. Men like him were often recruited by Chinese military officials to train soldiers in how to fight other Nomadic tribes. This was quite common actually throughout Chinese history when fighting off foreign groups; they would hire another foreign group that was similar to fight and train their soldiers to more efficiently handle the situations.  So while the ancient Chinese Poem is Chinese in the sense of how it was recorded, it is more of minority writing. I think that’s whyI probably first got drawn to this particular poetry.

Today’s word of the day is the Chinese word for home and is also used for family. Feel free to comment and anyone who like to contribute is free to. Till the next ancient Chinese story post everyone. Best of wishes to any who have suffered due to the recent typhoon in Taiwan and southeast China.

Chinese Story: A Chinese Couples Conversation

Welcome back to the Ancient Chinese Story blog everyone. Today’s post is more of a dialogue between a Chinese husband and Chinese wife. This is set in the present time and is originally in the modern Chinese style of writing. This is a comical conversation between a husband and a wife. Today I will be translating this comical Chinese story from my level 5 Chinese textbook. This story’s title translated is called, “Splitting The House Work.” Enjoy the story:

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Husband:

It’s already been half a year since the two of us got married, in those six months we lived with our parents, we did not have much to do in the house, and there weren’t any big problems. Starting from tommorow, we will have are own home, and we need to divide up the housework. Now men and women are equal, agter work, I should also do some housework.

Wife:

Excellent! Now I have planned out how we can divide the things to do like you said. First, men should do the dirty work, such as cleaning the kitchen, tidying up the rooms and things like taking out the trash.

Husband:

Correct, These types of chores, I can do them all.

Wife:

You studied construction, I studied art, working on electronic things you should also be responsible for, like the washing machine, refrigerator, electric rice cooker and the iron.

Husband:

Fine! It is my responsibility.

Wife:

Men work outside while women work at home. This is our Chinese people’s tradition.  We should follow the foreigners way where you also do some work. Every Saturday you go to the supermarket and buy some things, every month you will go to the bank and pay for the gas and water heating bills, every morning you will go to pick up the newspaper and the milk.

Husband:

Fine, Fine, then what shall you do?

Wife:

Don’t get anxious. Listen to what I say, because I am a dancer for a living, To cook food in the kitchen; the oil and smoke is too much, isomg cleanser to clean the bowls and scrubbing the pots will affect my skin, therefore these few things you will need to do for me as well. Doing these things will greatly assist me with my own work.

Husband:

Is there anything else you want me to do?

Wife:

At the moment I only can think of these few things. Later on when we are going to have children, it will be necessary for you to take on even more responsibilities.

Husband:

So then tell me just what are you going to do!

Wife:

I of course have alot of things I have to do as well. I can be your support. While you work I can sing for you, and give you supportive words and wipe away your sweat, and let you  go about your chores happily.

Husband:

With this type of work, can it be possible to be in a pleasant mood?

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When I first this comical tale, I thought immediately of people in Shanghai. Often I have noticed this how the women tend to be there; very strict, bossy and controlling yet the men are so kind and passive. Ironically I later found out that this was the stereotype as well (but not always the case).  Of course, there still are households that follow the old Chinese ways, but with globalization and modernization, people can see a gradual shift. This is what happens when you intermeld cultural beliefs. Though in some ways it is nice to see beneficial changes, some old Chinese traditions are good and are being lost today in modern China.

That’s all for todays post, I don’t have any pictures suited for this Chinese conversation, so today I will leave you guys with the words for husband and wife at the bottom. Till the next Chinese Story everyone.

先生=Husband

太太=Wife

Ancient Chinese Stories: A Modern Chinese Tale of a Chinese Dinner Gone Wrong

Hey everyone, welcome back to the ancient Chinese stories blog. So this tale which today I shall translate is a story about a dinner party, and really what happens when you have poor etiquette. This story is from my Chinese language textbook, so I am not so sure about its history, judging by its writing, this Chinese story was written sometime in the last 100 years, so it is more of a modern Chinese story or tale. One thing I will say now however is that this story is told by someone, in a more first and second person point of view. Today’s Chinese Story is called, “inviting guests.”

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Speaking is a form of art. Some people speak and people who hear them feel happy, some people speak and make people angry. I have a friend, and he can’t speak. When he speaks, people he speak to become very unpleased.

One time, he invited some friends to treat to dinner at a restaurant. That day he invited altogether four people, three people had come and there was still one who still had not arrived. As he was waiting he began to get alittle anxious, and said, “There should be one more guest but he still hasn’t come!” One of the guests sitting next to him heard this and got upset. He thought, “If he was the one who was supposed to come and hasn’t arrived yet; am I the one that shouldn’t have come?” The guest then stood up and said, “I’m sorry, I have to go do some things. As he was leaving the restaurant, he said to the waiter at the door, “You can tell them they don’t have to wait for me.”

A little time had passed and the waiter came and asked my friend, “Sir, the dishes you ordered are all ready, shall I bring them out now for you?”

“Don’t Forget, we are still waiting for someone.” My friend looked around and saw that he was short of one guest, and then asked, “Where did he go?” The waiter answered, “That guest has already left.” Once my friend heard this, got more anxious and said, “He shouldn’t of have been the one to have left!”

At this time, there were two guests waiting. One of my friend’s guest hear what he said and got very upset, he thought, “He shouldn’t have been the one to left, so he means the one who should of left still hasn’t left, very well, I am the who should have left, I’ll leave now!” He stood up and without saying even a sentence he left the restaurant.

Only one guest was now sitting there. My friend then said to himself, “Why did they all leave? This guest then said, “Didn’t you say that the one who should of came didn’t come and the one who left shouldn’t have been the one to leave? Those to thought to themselves they are the ones that should not be here. Therefore they all left. For the future you really must pay attention to what you say a little more.”

“Yes, next time I will certainly pay attention to what I say.” My friend then said, “But, it was not them which I meant when I was talking!” “What?” The guest angrily asked; “When you spoke you meant me!” This guess also then left.

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So this is more a tale about speaking and proper etiquette. While it is ok to want to wait for one friend in Chinese culture, you do not say so (in any culture for that matter). I guess this particular Chinese story especially shows that speaking really is a form of art.
I could not find a picture that would have fit todays Chinese story and I do apologize for that, hopefully next Time I will have an image for anyone reading the story. Till the next Ancient Chinese story post everyone.

南轅北轍 Ancient Chinese Stories: The Ancient Chinese Tale Behind The Saying Nan Yuan Bei Zhe

Welcome back to the Ancient Chinese Story Blog. Today’s tale which I will discuss is a common idiom in the Chinese tongue’s origins story. If someone goes to you in China and says, “南轅北轍” it means one is acting in a way that would defeat one’s purpose even if you literally translate the Chinese meaning, it means “south shafts north rut.” Yet this old saying has very old roots in Chinese culture. It is a story about a traveler and how he wanted to go where it was that he went. Today’s ancient Chinese story will be translated from the modern Chinese text (sorry I don’t have the original ancient Chinese text to show everyone today) into English.

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Once upon a time, there was a man who was riding in a horse drawn carriage and traveling to go take care of some affairs; and in the carriage there was also a very big suitcase. He told the driver to of the carriage to drive non-stop and the horse ran extremely fast.

Along the road, there was an old man who saw them and asked, “Sir, you seem anxious, where do you need to go?”

The man in the carriage then replied in a loud voice, “I need to go to the state of Chu.” The old man heard and laughing he smiled and said, “You are going the wrong way. The state of Chu is in the south, how come you are going to to the north?”

“That’s alright,” The man in the carriage then said, “Can you not see? My horse runs very fast.”

“Your horse is great, but you’re path is incorrect.”

“It’s no problem, my carriage is new, it was made just last month.”

“Your carriage is brand new, but this is not the road one takes to get to Chu.”

“Old Uncle, you don’t know,” and the man in the carriage pointed to the suitcase in the back and said, “In that suitcase there’s alot of money. No matter how long the road is, I am not afraid.”

“You have lots of money, but do not forget, The direction which you are going is wrong. I can see, you should go back the direction which you came from.”

The man in the carriage heard this and irritated said, “I have already been traveling for ten days, how can you tell me to go back from where I came?” He then pointed at the carriage driver and said, “Take a look, he is very young, and the driver drives very well, you needn’t worry. Goodbye!”

After he said he told the driver to drive forward, he drove and the horse ran even faster.

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Now I always like this ancient story simply because it shows how stubborn people can be. The moral that could be found in this story besides the self defeating act is not to turn down advice so easily and if we make a mistake, to try and admit it (though in this tale though he did make quite a mistake though). We see the state of Chu, so realistically this story comes from the time of the Zhou dynasty. In ancient China, Chu was actually fairly strong but mind you in the end they as all the other warring states at the time, fell to the Qin. So we know this ancient story is over 2000 years old (quite ancient if I may so) and still in modern China today is still being used. Quite remarkable when one thinks of it.

Todays picture I took when I was in Xi An and figured that for this story would be rather ideal. This artefact originates from the Qin dynasty and was found by the Terracotta soldiers. That is all for todays ancient Chinese story. Till the next ancient tale everyone.

Ancient Chinese Stories: The Ancient Chinese Tale of Master Zeng AKA Zeng Zi Refusing A city

My ancient Chinese text

Hey everybody, welcome back to my ancient Chinese story site. So today I am going to be translating a story from the Zhou dynasty about master Zeng aka Zeng Zi. Now Master Zeng is a very well known ancient Chinese person. The story I will tell you today is a translation (my own) from the original ancient text I used in my classical Chinese textbook. The title of todays ancient tale is Master Zeng Refuses A City.

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Zeng Zi would wear tattered clothes as he would plow the fields. The ruler of Lu sent a messenger to Zeng Zi offer him a town and the messenger said, “We request that you have this so you may fix your damaged clothes.”

Master Zeng didn’t accept it. Not being accepted the messenger returned to his master, then was sent back to Zeng Zi and he did not accept it again. The messenger then said, “Master, you are not taking from others, they wish to give to you. Why shall you not accept?” Zeng Zi then said, ” Those who accept these gifts are afraid and those who give the gifts are arrogant. Even if the ruler had a gift and he still was not arrogant to me, I can’t not fear him?” In the end he did not accept it. Confucius heard of this and said, “My disciple said this was sufficient enough to maintain his virtue.”

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Master Zeng’s ancient Chinese story was quite remarkable for the situation which he was in. Now mind you normally when I hear of Master Zeng, I do think this story, but usually I tend to think more of his mother. His mother in ancient times was a well respected and strong woman.  If this is the case, then one can see from this ancient story why Master Zeng is brave enough not to accept the rulers bribe or be forced to fear him. It also shows that there was high sense of honor and virtue which Confucius admired especially since he did not perform anything violent.

Today’s ancient Chinese stories’ picture is the actual text I used to translate it. You can see all my notes as well as the former owners notes on it. This Chinese story is the ancient text and as a result much tougher to translate. Well, that is all for the ancient Chinese stories writer today, till the next ancient Chinese tale everyone.

Ancient Chinese Stories: The Ancient Tale Of 3 Fools in Ancient China

Hey everyone, welcome back to the ancient Chinese Story blog. I apologize for not updating in almost a month but school is harsh. Today’s ancient Chinese tale is more a satire which is short but fun. The story is a rather old one from what I know, but it was also taught to children so that way the kids would not behave in such a rude manner. Today’s ancient Chinese tale I myself shall translate from the Chinese text into English. My version of the text is modern Chinese and comes from my textbook which my Chinese 203 and 204 textbook.

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Once upon a time there was a county magistrate, he felt that he was very smart. One day, he said to his chai yi, (a type of errand runner) “I will give you guys 3 days time, you guys need to go out and find 3 foolish people, and then bring them back to my place.” On the first day, they found no one. On the second day, they saw a man riding a horse, and in his hand he was carrying a very big suitcase.

They went over to the man and asked him, “You are riding a horse, why do you still carry your own suitcase?” That man replied, “I am riding the horse,  and it is already very tired, and if it also had to carry the suitcase, wouldn’t that make it even heavier?” The chai yi heard this and were extremely happy: they found their first fool. And so they left with him. The third day they went to the city entrance and saw a man with bamboo entering the city. The gates were small and his bamboo were very long; at first he carried them vertically, and he couldn’t get in, then he tried it horizontally, but still couldn’t get in. He get very frustrated. After that, he cut thyem in half and only then could he enter the city. The chai yi saw this and found their second fool. They left with him afterward.

On the 4th day, the chai yi brought the two men to the county magistrate to meet. They told him the two fools stories. The county magistrate heard this, laughing at the second fool said, “You’re such an idiot! Why not just throw the bamboo over the wall?” The chai yi heard this and snapped back, “we found our third fool.” The county magistrate looked all around and confused said, “here there are only two people, where’s the third one?” The chai yi replied, “the third fool is you.”

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You can see why this ancient story was used to teach kids. The moral here is not to be so prideful and arrogant. It can also show us that everyone, no matter what their status, still can have their faults. Very satirical, but good Chinese tale to learn a lesson from. Alright guys, I will keep this wrap up short. No picture today alas, I didn’t see anything that would fit. Till the next ancient Chinese story everyone. May we all learn and live in joy.

Ancient Chinese Poetry: The Sad Ancient Story of Chinese Women. A Sad Tale Indeed

Taken in Xi An at her old bathing grounds

 

So todays ancient Chinese story is really a poem. I had recently bought a book by Arthur waley containing all sorts of ancient Chinese tales and poetry. This is the sad truth of ancient Chinese women and their lives. So today before I write the translation form Arthur Waley I will give a brief history of the women in China. So during the ancient times, women in the world generally (not always though depending which society you speak of) were not so highly respected. In China, where Confucianism eventually would become the dominant Chinese philosophy, women in ancient Chinese society would gradually degrade women seeing them as far inferior to men. They were there essentially just to treat the men well and be the typical housewife. When a woman was born, there was no joy to be found and women were placed under the bed for the first few days (mind you I researched this and thought it was a lie until I read of it in actual Chinese texts still in Chinese) in order to humble the ancient girls.  This ancient Chinese poem will tell you the rest. Now on todays on Chinese Tales and stories post I will only change some words from wade-giles into ping yin. The title of the poem is called Woman original written by the Chinese poet Fu Xuan.

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How sad it is to be a woman!

Nothing on earth is held so cheap.

Boys stand leaning at the door

Like Gods Fallen out of Heaven.

Their hearts brave the Four Oceans,

The wind and dust of a thousand miles.

No one is glad when a girl is born:

By her the family sets no store.

When she grows up, she hides in her room

Afraid to look a man in the face.

No one cries when she leaves her home-

Sudden as clouds when the rain stops.

She bows her head and composes her face,

Her teeth are pressed on her red lips:

She bows and kneels countless times.

She must humble herself even to the servants.

His love is distant as the stars in Heaven,

Yet the sunflower bends toward the sun.

Their hearts more sundered than water and fire-

A hundred evils are heaped upon her.

Her face will follow the years’ changes:

Her lord will find new pleasures.

They that were once like substance and shadow

Are now as far as Hu from Qin

Yet Hu and Qin shall sooner meet

Than they whose parting is like Can and Chen

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While this is usually the case, there were some exceptionally powerful women in China. Todays ancient Chinese Stories’ picture actually is from the time of Empress Wu, known as one of the harshest leaders in the Tang, but she also did help it develop as well.  She also helped to really bring Buddhism into China since she herself was a very advent Buddhist. I could go on for quite a while about her, but perhaps I will reserve that for another post.  Before I end off todays tale, the picture I took in the summer of 2007 and the water was still so warm from the fountains, this woman really knew how to live for the times. Thanks again for reading everyone, till the next post.

Ancient Chinese Stories, and A Brief Introduction

Hi everyone, my name is Joseph Ahdoot and this is my blog on ancient Chinese stories. Every week we will have a new Chinese poem, Chinese story and a brief comment on the ancient Chinese or the time period which it was written so people could understand the context of the article. These Chinese poems, and Chinese stories I find rather interesting and often find myself pondering upon them after reading them. As for me; I myself am an East Asian specialist but also have a joy in writing. Feel free to comment on anything or ask any questions.

Today, I wish to introduce to a poem I found interesting which was originally a letter to a magistrate during the Tang dynasty written by Wang Wei. The translation I have is from the book The Poetry Of Zen. The Title is, “To Magistrate Chang.”

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Late, I love but quietness:

things of this are no more my concern.

Looking back, I’ve known no better plan

than this: returning to the grove.

Pine breezes loosen my robe.

Mountain moonbeams play my lute.

What, you ask, is Final Truth?

The fisherman’s song strikes deep into the bank.

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Just a brief note: this is a Zen story; originally, Zen reached Japan via China and during Wang Wei’s time in the Tang dynasty, it was at it’s peak. I find this particular Chinese poem of interest simply because it is an excellent Koan (written in Chinese and Japanese is written as 公案) which explains the ultimate truth or as it is more commonly known; enlightenment. To the common reader, this seems strange and confusing, yet to the Zen master, this makes perfect sense. Enlightenment in the eyes of Zen can be achieved by pushing away from logic. If one is too logical, then enlightenment can’t arise. This is my understanding and this is why I find it so fascinating. Till next time everyone.

The Ancient Chinese Story of Mi Zi Xia, and What it Shows of Sexuality in Ancient China.

So this is an ancient Chinese story from some time in the Zhou Dynasty which was over 2,000 years ago from the 8th century B.C.E. till the 3rd century B.C.E . I will give you the translation provided by Paul Rozer in the book A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese. When I first read this old Chinese story, I was rather surprised needless to say.

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Mizi Xia was loved by the Lord of Wei. The law of the state of Wei was that anyone who drove the Lords’s carriage unlawfully would be punished by having his feet cut off. Mizi Xia’s mother was ill; someone heard of this, and at night went to inform him. Mizi Xia drove the lord’s carriage without authorization and went out. The Lord heard of this and thought him worthy. He said, “How filial! For the sake/reason of his mother, he committed a crime worthy of havinghis feet cut off!” The lord was strolling in his orchard. Mizi Xia ate a peach and found it sweet, so he didn’t finish it and offered [the rest] to the Lord. The Lord said, “He loves me and disregards it with taste!” When Mizi Xia’s look faded and [the Lord's] love slackened, he offended the Lord. The Lord said, ”This man indeed once usurped the use of my carriage, and moreover he once fed me with the remains of a peach!” Therefore, though Mizi Xia’s conduct did not necessarily change from before, the reason why he was first considered worthy and afterward offended was because of the change that arose from love to hate.

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This to me is really interesting, before this I had only known of a few emperors who would have affairs with eunuchs among the ancient Chinese. In modern China, homosexuality or bisexuality would not be so accepted. As I did my research, I realized that many rulers were bisexual and often had affairs with both women and men. So often the scholars would not say that homosexuality was wrong in ancient China, but the king’s or ruler’s over grown sexual desire. This Chinese story does show us something else as well; sometimes doing the right thing can be difficult because sometimes, in even today’s world (perhaps more so) it still seems if you do the right thing, you will be shunned for it or punished unfairly. If one really looks at these ancient Chinese stories of any time, they can see in those classical times many interesting arguements which are still seen to this day.

Let me know what you guys think.

Painting Legs On A Snake- An Ancient Chinese Tale of Drinking

This is the famous Chinese idiom 畫蛇添足; in English, painting legs on a snake.

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Once upon a time a group of friends went out to have some wine. There were a lot of them, but not so much to drink, there was only one bowl left. Who can drink this bowl?
Someone said, “Everyone should paint a snake and the person who paints one quickest get’s to drink this last bowl of wine, how does that sound?”
Everyone answered, “OK”
They all began to paint. There was one young man who drew his snake faster than everyone else and saw that they were still painting, only he was finished.
He happily said, “They all paint too slowly, I still have lots of time, I’ll add some feet to my snake”
At this time, some one nearby in a loud voice said, “I finished my snake, this last bowl of wine should be given to me”
The young boy heard this and at once said anxiously, “You did not paint as finish as early as I did, I finished much earlier than you did. Look, I even added feet to my snake. This bowl should be mine!”
The other man laughed and said, “Everyone knows snakes don’t have legs. You added legs to this snake, so it is no longer a snake, therefore the first person to finish painting a snake was me.”
Everyone said, “He’s right, this last bowl of wine is his.”
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I translated this from a modern Chinese (bai hua) translation from the ancient Chinese story I found in my old Chinese textbook. Everyone stresses not overdoing things, but this Chinese story shows how a kid only lost his drink because of overdoing and in part to his arroance. While I do love my Chinese stories, I can see arrogance as a problem for anyone, but in this case I prefer to focus on overdoing things or doing that which is superfluous. I see this all the time as a rule for all groups from writers to SEO people; don’t overdo it or you will be screwed. This story may be ancient, but still so true in its lesson.

This picture up top for everyone to know in case interested was taken outside of Beijing in summer 2007.

Ancient Chinese Story: Environment, Not Heredity

 

This is a story I had to translate for my classical Chinese class, for now I am using the books translation by Paul Rozer’s book: A New Practical Primer For Literary Chinese. This is a text pertaining to the well known Master Yan of Qi from the late 6th century b.c.e. during the Zhou Dynasty.
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Master Yan was about to go on a Mission to Chu. The king of Chu heard of this and he said to his courtiers, “Yan Ying is a practiced rhetorician of Qi. Just now he is coming, and I wish to humiliate him. How?”
One Courtier replied, “For when he comes, I request we tie up a man. We will walk by your Majesty, and you will say, ‘Who is he?’ We will reply, ‘He is a man of Qi.’ Your majesty will say, ‘What is he being tried for?’ and we will say, ‘He is being tried for robbery.’”
Master Yan arrived, and the king of Chi gave Master Yan ale. When the banquet had progrssed for a while, two guards tied up a person and came to the king.
The king said, “What has the bound man done?”
They replied, he is a man of Qi and he is being tried for robbery.”
The king regarded Master yan and said, “Are the people of Qi indeed good at Robbery?”
Master Yan withdrew from his mat and replied, “I have heard that when an orange tree grows south of the Huai then it becomes an orange tree, but when it grows north of the Huai it becomes a zhi tree. Only the leaves are similar; the taste of their fruit is not the same. Why is it so? The water and the terrain are different. Now a commoner is born and grows up in Qi and doesn’t steal, but he enters Chu and steals. No doubt it is the water and terrain of Chu that makes a commoner good at stealing?”
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So this ancient Chinese tale of these two people arguing is probably one of the oldest arguements of nature versus nurture. Originally I didn’t notice this just because I thought of how clever it was in this particular Chinese story how Master Yan used the kings remark to switch it and insult him back. In this case though, it seemed that nurture won the arguement, and nature was shunned. It is interesting simply because the arguements of these ancient Chinese were always so philosophical yet wittily put.

This picture is from the Great Wall when I went in summer 2007

Ancient Chinese Stories: The Farmer of Song and His Stump

Terracotta Soldiers In Xi An

 

Todays ancient Chinese story I bring I have from the great volume one book of Irene Bloom; “Sources of Chinese Tradition from Earliest Times to 1600.” This Chinese story shows the view of the Han Fei Zi on Confucianism and is a small snippet from his ideas on, ”The Five Vermin.”

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There was a farmer of Song who tilled the land,  and in his field was a stump. One day a rabbit, racing accross the field, bumped into the stump, broke its neck, and died. Thereupon the farmer laid aside his plow and took up watch beside the stump, hoping that he would get another rabbit in the same way. But he got no more rabbits, and instead became the laughingstock of Song. Those who think they can take the ways of the ancient kings and use them to govern the people of today all belong in the category of stump-watchers!…

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So this ancient Chinese Story I always rather enjoyed when I was reading it. Now Han Fei zi was a legalist who was originally a student of the Confucian master Xun Zi. He liked the idea of law governing society, but he hated ideas of Confucianism seeing them as too stagnant and old fashioned, and this of course is so well shown in the very last line of the text. Now he was more of a supporter of the Daoist belief that all things are in eternal flux. As a result, the people of a new age need a new method of ruling. So while Confucianism in the long run did succeed rather well, it was ideas of those like the Han Fei Zi which are more militaristic or Legalist points of view that unified China at the end of the Zhou dynasty and began the reign (well, really short reigned, about 15 years) of the Qin dynasty. Of course, the methods were so harsh that the ancient Chinese people couldn’t take it anymore, rebelled and the Han dynasty ended up taking power. To make sure such extreme governance wasn’t done again, The Han Dynasty was the first official Confucian run dynasty. While there is much more in the text on The Five Vermin, I think this little snippet is very brief, entertaining and excellent in explaining his main point of being anti-Confucian. Later on perhaps, I will show other parts of this ancient Chinese text and try to explain their signifigance in a simple manner.

This picture I took in summer 2007.

Ancient Chinese Stories: The Tale Of Duke Mu And The Horse Eaters

This ancient Chinese story today which is about Duke Mu of the Zhou Dynasty. This time I will be translating it myself.

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Duke Mu of Qin once went out and lost his swiftest horse, and he then went to look for it himself. He saw that some people killed the horse, and were eating the meat. Duke Mu said to them, “That was my swiftest horse!” Then the men got frightened and immediately stood up. Duke Mu then said, “I have heard that if one eats the meat of a fast horse without having some ale will kill them,” and then Duke Mu gave the men some ale one by one. Those who killed the horse drank the ale and then left ashamed. 3 years after this incident, The State of Jin attacked the state of Qin and Duke Mu was under seige. Those who in the past ate the horse meat said to each other, “We can go and die and repay the the grace of drinking ale with our horse meat.” The seige then had ended. Duke Mu in the end through this way overcame his challenges and was able to truimph over Jin. He Captered Duke Hui of Jin and then returned to his home. This is a situation where kindness was applied and good fortune was returned from it.

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Now in this ancient Chinese story we see the result of kindness pays off in the long run. I won’t lie I might not have done the same if I saw my best horse being eaten. Now, when I was translating the story, I didn’t see anything that would give an exact number of how many people were eating the horse but the main point of the story is that is better to be kind than mean. I have to say though this story is much nicer to read than hearing that old honey and fly cliche. I use the term ale for the chinese character for 酒, not wine because wine came into existence late on in Chinese History, the first form of alcoholic drink was some sort of ale like or beer substance made from wheat in the northern areas of China, so I feel ale is more appropiate.  This is probably the best ancient story you can find to show why being kind is better than being cold-hearted not only in ancient Chinese times, but for any time in the world.

This is a picture of Xi An with me in it. I took it in summer 2007 outside of the terracotta soldier archeological site.

Ancient Chinese Stories: The Ancient Story of Guan Zhong Showing Up Late

 

Hey everybody, just a heads up, soon I will stop updating weekly and make it alittle more to about 2-3 times a month, school is tough and work at the same time means less leisure time. Today’s ancient Chinese Tale is from the Zhou Dynasty and is called, “Guan Zhong Shows Up Late.”  I will try to translate the story as best I can today.

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Duke Huan of Qi had prepared a banquet  for his high ministers where he would serve ale and planned it for noon. Guan Zhong had arrived later. Duke Huan then had raised a cup for him and poured ale into it for him to drink. Guan Zhong then poured out half of the ale which was given to him. Guan Zhong then said, “I planned the banquet for noon and you arrive late, I pour you ale and you dispose of it? Is this possibly the way in which one should act in with the customs of a guest?” Guan Zhong replied, “I have heard, ‘When someone drinks ale the toungue shall wag. One then may say something which may cause them harm. I reckon it is worst to lose ones life then to get rid of some ale.” Duke Huan laughed and then said, “You may rise and go to take your seat minister.”

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So again I use ale because the ancient Chinese still had not created mao tai or wine at this point. Now this particular story was of interest because this shows the craftiness of a minister despite the fact he may have been rude. So it may be nice to drink, but it’s better to have a little self control then lose it all over no control. He knows that if he says one wrong thing, he can die. The state of Qi also is very important because Confucius came from there as did Mencius. As a result, this area had a significant impact on Chinese culture not only in ancient times, but even in modern China today. The ways which came from Qi spread through all of China not during the time of Confucius himself or even with Mencius (though he did play a significant role in his time trying to spread the way of Confucius) but because of the early Han dynasty which never wanted to see another Qin dynasty rise again. 

Comically enough, I had some of my female friends see this story and then say, “I wish every man were this responsible.” I have to say it made me laugh, but what can I say, people still admire the ancient people everywhere saying the olden days were better. Of course this could be argued, but perhaps I’ll do that another time. I just put up old Chinese tales for all to enjoy. I figured I would use this image I took in Xi An in front of an Islamic Chinese restaurant simply because this story involves a banquet. If anyone wants to add anything feel free to.

Ancient Chinese Story: Ancient Chinese Tale or Ancient Chinese Joke?

Hey everyone, this old Chinese story I read about a year ago for the first time and I found it to be very comical. Today’s ancient Chinese will be translated myself and I will be using the modern Chinese, not the ancient form. The title of the story is,”The Soldier and The General.”

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Once upon a time there was a winter and the weather was extremely cold. One evening, the winds were very strong and it was snowing alot. Not even one person was on the roads, but there was one soldier who was standing guard outside. Since noon time till now, he hadn’t even one bite to eat. He was wearing very little, and he stood there as it was snowing, feeling extremely cold.

At the same time, not so far from him in a living room, the general was drinking some already. He lit a fire in the; the general had drank a lot of alcohol and felt extremely warm. He said unhappily,”It’s already December, it should be cold, but now the weather is still this warm, such unusual weather!”

The soldier standing guard outside heard this and loudly said, “General, where you are the weather is abnormal, yet you are unhappy, but here where I am the weather is quite normal. If you like the current weather, I invite you to also come and stand outside.”

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Hopefully I managed to translate the Chinese into English well in this situation.  The ancient story I find rather comical because it shows no matter who it is or when it is whether it be ancient China, or…let’s say the United States, the stupid drunk annoys just about everyone. Unfortunately, I don’t have an exact date for when this story was first told, so I just decided to use alcohol because who knows what he could have been drinking (though at this point I may be overthinking it). The only thing that I can say otherwise is that winter time in China is usually extremely cold unless you are the much more southern areas such as Hong Kong, Hai Nan etc. I am sure this is a more well known story from ancient China but I am not so certain in this case I never really spoke to any Chinese people about this particular tale.

Now some of you are thinking, why did I put up this picture? Well, I don’t have many pictures from China from my trip and I was only there in the summer time, but if anyone has any and would like to donate, let me know and I will give you credit a mention in the ancient Chinese stories article which I choose to use it in. I also figured from the content of this story, this may have been what the soldier really wanted if he had the chance.

Ancient Chinese Poem: A Woman’s Writing Zen Style

Me in Xi An posing by the Buddha of good fortune.

Hey everybody I think this post round I would do a poem, and I figured a nice Zen poem was due, after all not all of ancient Chinese writings for me necessarily need to be ancient Chinese stories to be enjoyable.. Now I already had a zen poem (aka Chan Buddhism) but I found one written by a woman and it’s always pleasing to see ancient poetry of any sort from anyone. I figured though since I really never mentioned a woman from ancient China (and there a quite a few famous ones from ancient Chinese times as well as modern ) in any of my stories, so this one I post up from the book “The Poetry of Zen,” by Same Hammill and J.P. Seaton. We know not who this Chinese Woman was but all we know was that she was a zen monk in the Song Dynasty which was really (at least from what I know) was the last time Chan or Zen Buddhism really had strong influence in China.

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Searching for spring all day, I never saw it,

straw sandals treading everywhere

among the clouds, among the bank.

Coming home, I laughed, catching

the plum blossom’s scent:

spring at each branch tip, already perfect.

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Now the Song dynasty is not so ancient but was still of significance because it still was a full dynasty which followed the Tang after the time of the five dynasties which was about 60 years sometime in the 10th century. Chinese Buddhism had significantly declined after the Tang because the Tang had blamed the Buddhists for their difficulties. As a result, Song China made a return to Confucianism and made Neo-Confucian ideas. However, Zen in it’s time and even now in other areas of the world greatly affected poetry and aesthetic writing in general. I know this isn’t Ancient China per say, but I am still working on those ancient Chinese woman’s stories.

I don’t if I should try to interpret this particular poem, but it is kind of like enlightenment. If you try to look for it, you will not find it and it will come suddenly. I guess this Nun came from the school of sudden enlightenment.

I put up this photo simply because Zen is a form of Mhayana here I am next to one of the most famous of Mahayana Boddhissatvas (none exist in Theravada), the Buddha of wealth and good fortune. Hope everyone enjoyed this Chinese Poem from old China, I still find it interesting. Next time I will have a more ancient Chinese tale to add to our Chinese story list. Till the next ancient Chinese Tale.

Ancient Chinese Story: An Affair in Ancient China And What Zhao Jian Zi Learned From It

Act like the neighbor, and you will be walking this long road alone too.

Welcome back to Joe’s Ancient Chinese Stories. This time I shall attempt to translate the story. This comes from the Zhou dynasty and is a tale in which a good lesson is learned.  This story in English translated from Chinese is called, “Here we go round the mulberry bush.” Just so all the ancient Chinese Story readers in advance, Zhao Jian Zi is Viscount Jian of Zhao in other ancient Chinese translations.

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Zhao Jian Zi raised an army to attack Qi, and said that if any of his troops were to dissobey him it would be punishable by death. He looked out at the soldiers, and saw Gong Lu in the in the distance laughing at him. Zhao Jian Zi then said to him, “Why do you laugh?” Gong Lu replied, “I was just thinking of an old joke.” Zhao Jian Zi then said, “You shall explain it now, and if you can not, then you shall die.” Gong Lu then said, “During the mulberry harvest season, my neighboring family’s husband and wife went to go work on the fields. The husband saw a girl in the middle of the bushes, and went to chase after the girl but could not catch her. When they had returned home, his wife was so angry with him that she left him. I laugh at how he became lonely.” Zhao Jian Zi then said, “Now I attack a kingdom and shall lose one too, that will become my loneliness.” Upon that he disbanded and his army and returned to his kingdom.

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So I need to mention this ancient Chinese Story’s cultural note. Mulberry trees and bushes are very imprtant in ancient China. These were what the silk worms would often feed on so to maintain all the silk worms, they would harvest the leaves and leave them in a small room where they could easily be taken afterword to obtain the silk bounty of the worms. The lesson i the today’s ancient Chinese Story which I bring you is to be grateful for what you have. The mulberry fields was where women worked in China in large numbers in the ancient times. As a result, with so few men and many women, the mulberry fields became the place for affairs in many Chinese writings. If you were to look at later writings perhaps from the Tang dynasty, most secret love stories would be in the mulberry fields whether it be among ancient commoners or the ancient Chinese royalty, the story would be there where they would meet in secret and so on.

This photo I took when I was in Xi An. Till the next Ancient Chinese Stories’ tale everyone. And please do send some photos to me everyone, I don’t have so many of China, and I will give you the credit, I just am trying to find photos that match the stories well.

So I leave you with a quote from Zhuang Zi, “Was I dreaming that I was a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a human?”

Ancient Chinese Stories: The Old Chinese Tale Of Bo Ya and His Harp

In an Ancient Chinese City with a beautiful park

 

Welcome back to Joe’s Ancient Chinese Stories and Tales. Todays tale is a story is an old Chinese story from the Zhou Dynasty and is the story of one man, his harp and his best friend. A very deep yet interesting ancient Chinese tale that one can enjoy and understand relating this ancient story to that any could still show similar relations to today anywhere. I will translating todays Ancient Chinese Story. The tale is called, “He calls the tune.” This old Chinese story can be touching but still has some meaning to it many people can understand.

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Master Bo Ya was playing the qin and Zhong Zi Qi would listen to him. As he played, his thoughts would be on Tai Mountain. Zhong Zi Qi said, “Oh how splendidly you play your qin. They are as grand as the appearance of Mt. Tai.” Shortly after as Master Bo Ya played his qin, he began to focus on the flow of the of the river. Zhong Zi Qi heard this and then said, “How splendidly you play the qin! It is so clear and pure like the movements of a river!” When Zhong Zi Qi died, Bo Ya and never played played the qin again for the rest of his life. For his whole life he would not play the qin once again because he believed in the world there was no one worthy enough to play the qin for any longer. Playing the qin is similar to finding worthy people. Even if there is onw who is worthy, if you no longer have the method to treat them well, then how would they truly be able to be loyal to you?  The horse Ji could not travel 1000 li on his own, he could only travel so far because he went with Bo Le.

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This ancient Chinese story is fairly famous in certain groups.  Ancient Chinese stories like this were both entertaining and had a message inside which sometimes are easier in some Chinese tales to find than others. Now the qin for those who do not know is an ancient Chinese instrument that I guess one could call a Chinese harp. It’s actually a rather relaxing instrument to listen to I personally think. The story can show that sometimes one can’t do something by themselves, they need assistance. It also shows a sense of human nature that people may need each other and if something should happen such as death in a relationship, it hurts the living friend too, no matter whether it be ancient times or in the present. The horse known as Ji was a famous horse also that if I am not mistaken, Bo Le tamed and used as his own when no one else could. This can go back to the worthy person. The worthy person would be able to fully understand Bo Ya and his music, but he thought no one one ever could as Zhong Zi Qi had. Tai Shan or Mount Tai is a very famous mountain in China as welll; often it has many spiritual references and just natural aesthetic references to it ancient Chinese tales and old Chinese history as well as modern (but not as much mind you). This story is a sad story that I personally believe most of us in one way or another could relate to.

Todays Chinese stories picture I took in one China’s oldest cities in the Shaan Xi province. I still remember the park very fondly since it was so serene and I imagine had Bo Ya been in that area, he would have played songs o the scenery there as long as Zhong Zi Qi was with him.  If anyone wishes, leave a comment and I will e-mail should you need anything. Till the next ancient Chinese story.

Ancient Chinese Story: The Ancient Chinese Tale About Chinese Shoes

Hey everyone, so today’s old Chinese story is a bit of a comedy. I can’t tell you where or when this tale exactly did come from since I have no information on it other than the actual text itself. Correction I know one thing; this ancient Chinese story is over one thousand years old. Todays Ancient Chinese Stories Text is called “Buying Shoes.” Todays tale I will be translating the text from a modern version (bai hua) as opposed to the wen yan wen form.

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Once upon a time, there was a man who wished to buy a pair of shoes, he first measured himself his footsize, but when he left, he wnt in such a rush that he forgot to bring the measurments with him. Only after he got to the store did he realize that he left his size measurements at home. He said to the shopkeep, “I want to buy some shoes, and I already measured my foot size at home perfectly, but I forgot to bring the measurements with me, and I don’t remember the exact measuments. I must go back home first and bring the measurements with me.” Right after he said that, he ran back home to get the measurements. After he got his things and ran back to the shop, at that time, the shop already had closed. He traveked so far and in the end did not buy shoes, he was very upset.

One of his friends saw he had not bought the shoes and asked him, “What did you wish to buy the shoes for?” He then answered, “I wanted them for myself.” His friend then said, “You wanted to give them you’re shoe measurements, why did you not just use their measurements instead, did you really need to bring your own measurements?” After hearing his friends words, he said, “Even though I could have used their measurements was possible, I still believe my measurements were better.”

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You know, I thought about the Ancient Chinese dynasty known as the Qin (or Chin) dynasty. I thought of this because they did something great, they standardized all measurements making it much easier to be united. Now, obviously the story is a joke but the ancient tale does bring up a great point indirectly that one should follow standards when it comes to things such as this. This story shows how anywhere from the Ancient Chinese kingdoms to the modern world as we know today, people can be needlessly stubborn and have no trust in one another when they should have some more.

I am sorry that today I have no picture to appropiately address today’s ancient Chinese story, hopefully next time the ancient story I use will be able to work with one of my pictures rather well.  Till the next Ancient Chinese Stories’ post everyone. As always, feel free to comment.

Ancient Chinese Stories: The Tale of Old Man Yu Gong and The Mountain

Yu Gong wished to move a whole mountain...insane!!

Welcome back to the ancient Chinese story blog everybody. Todays old Chinese story is very famous and I will be translating myself from Chinese Bai Hua into English. It is a rather old story that shows us something about Chinese culture; the emphasis of hard work. It shows us that the ancient Chinese as people still do today work very hard, but there is a moral to this tale; work on something that is feasible, be passionate in your field, and it is possible. Today’s ancient Chinese stories’ story is 愚公移山 (yu gong yi shan)。When translated from Chinese to English, the story title is The Foolish Old Man Moves The Mountain. I will leave his name is Yu Gong for my translation of the tale today. I wish I could give you some more background on the story but sadly I never found the history of this ancient tale. Just a note, I will be translating only a part of today’s ancient Chinese tale because I found out unfortunately that the textbook I have only has part of it in it.

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Once upon a time there was an old man named Yugong, and he was almost 90 years old. In front of the entrance to his home was two big mountains, for his family, it was very inconvenient for his family to come and go. One day, Yu Gong said to his family, “These two mountains in front of the entrance, they are just too inconvenient. Why not get rid of these mountains?”

His son and grandson heard this and then said right after, “What you say is true,  tommorow we shall start to do it!”

His wife felt it was too difficult to move a mountain and said, “Do you guys see how tall those mountains are? How can you guys move such large mountains? And where will you put so many rocks and stones?”

They all replied, “We only need to work hard, and then we most certainly shall be able to move those mountains. We can take all the stones on the mountains and put them into the sea.” On the second day, Yu Gong and his family began to move the mountain. His neighbor had children; they heard they wanted to move the mountain, and together happily they went to move the mountain with them together. They weren’t scared of strong winds, if it was raining,  in summer they feared not heat, in winter they feared not the cold, and everyday they worked nonstop. There was an old man named Zhisou (智叟；the wise old man) who saw Yu Gong and his family at work moving the mountain.

He thought that this was ridiculous and said to Yu gong, “Now you are so old, and you are near the end of the road, is it really possible to move the mountains?”

Yugong replied, “You still don’t have a young intelligent grandson. Even though I will die soon, I still have a so, when my son dies, I still shall have a grandson. We will move the stones on the mountain little by little and it shall become smaller. If we work everyday nonstop, why should we not be able to move this mountain?” Zhisou heard this, and was speechless.

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On a sadder note, I believe this is only part of the text, from what my Chinese friends tell me. A cursed textbook, this time you have let me down and so I apologize to all ancient Chinese Story blog readers.  The tale does end on a happy note for our dear Yu Gong.  The heavenly emperor heard about how hard Yu Gong was working and asked the mountain gods to move the mountains away. Yu Gong in the end, proved that anything with determination could be done and embarrassed ZhiSou, quite the ancient story indeed.

As I mentioned before, today’s ancient story has a nice moral to the story; work hard, and anything is possible. It also shows how determined the people of Old China, the ancient Chinese and even today will work hard. In a way, for the time this was written, that was pretty bold for any Chinese or anyone in the world at that time to say they could move a mountain. Yet, I still do get a good laugh out of these ancient Chinese stories and tales.

On a note, the picture used in the Ancient Chinese Stories blog was taken in Xi An, and was at Empress Wu’s old bathing grounds. If anyone has any nice pictures of Ancient Chinese sites, feel free to post them up. Thank you to all the people also who comment and read my blog, glad to see there are still some interested in ancient cultures of any sort. A big thanks to my friends also for seeing that the story was incomplete.