Duke Ling of Wei asked Confucius about battle formations. Confucius replied: “Of sacrificial vessels I have heard something. Military matters I have not studied.” (俎豆之事，则尝闻之矣；军旅之事，未之学也) The next day he left. (Analects)
Kept in the Palace
留中 To keep inside. The Handian dictionary defines it as an emperor keeping a minister’s memorial in the palace, “neither sending it for discussion nor answering it.” Its example comes from the History of Ming: memorials “kept inside for several months.”
The practice is closely linked with the Wanli Emperor. A study by Li Jia finds that cases began early in his reign and became serious from its middle years on.
How to Make an Argument
In a short piece dated July 8, 1925, later collected in Wild Grass, Lu Xun dreams that he asks his teacher how to make an argument (立论). The teacher tells a story. At a baby boy’s full-month celebration, one guest says the child will be rich and is thanked. Another says the child will be an official and is complimented in return. A third says the child will die and is beaten by everyone together.
“Saying he will die is certain. Saying he will be rich and noble may be a lie. But the liar is rewarded, and the one who says what is certain is beaten.”
The pupil wants neither to lie nor to be beaten. The teacher answers: “Then you must say: ‘Aiya! This child! Look! How very… Oh! Haha! Hehe! he, hehehehe.'”
A Letter Breaking Off a Friendship
When his friend Shan Tao recommended him for an official post, the writer Ji Kang answered with the Letter Breaking Off Relations with Shan Tao (与山巨源绝交书). He listed seven things he “could not bear” and two that were “most impossible.” He liked to sleep late. He could not bear being wrapped in official robes and bowing to superiors. The second impossibility was his temper: “Hard against evil, careless and blunt in speech, I burst out whenever something happens.”
Ji Kang was later drawn into a friend’s lawsuit and jailed. The powerful minister Sima Zhao feared the influence of his words and, on the advice of Zhong Hui, had him executed. Sources date his death to 262 or 263.
The Blue Army
In 2006, Huawei formally set up a “Blue Army Staff Department” (蓝军参谋部). Its task is to play the imagined enemy of the company’s “Red Army” and to find the faults in its plans.
In 2017, Ren Zhengfei said: “If the Blue Army can raise a challenge, that shows its level. If it can raise a challenge and at the same time propose a plan that can be carried out, that shows a high level.”
At Huawei, challenging the company’s own plans is the work of a dedicated unit.
Too Ill to Serve
When Cao Cao was Minister of Works, he summoned Sima Yi to serve him. According to the Book of Jin, Sima Yi saw that the Han dynasty was in decline and did not want to bend to the Cao family. He declined, saying that he was paralyzed and could not get up. Cao Cao sent a man at night to stab him in secret. Sima Yi lay firm and did not move.
When Cao Cao became chancellor, he summoned Sima Yi again and told the messenger: “If he hesitates again, arrest him.” Sima Yi was afraid and took the post.
Dragging Its Tail in the Mud
Zhuangzi was fishing in the river Pu when two officials arrived from the king of Chu. The king wished to burden him with the affairs of his state. Zhuangzi held his rod and did not turn his head. He said that Chu had a sacred tortoise, dead for three thousand years, kept wrapped in a box in the ancestral temple. “Would this tortoise rather be dead and have its bones honored, or alive and dragging its tail in the mud?”
The two officials said: “Alive and dragging its tail in the mud.” Zhuangzi said: “Go away. I will drag my tail in the mud.” (Zhuangzi, Autumn Floods)
Some Other Day
改天吧 Some other day.
下次吧 Next time.
暂时不 Not for now.
这次免了 Let’s skip it this time.
A 2024 China Daily language lesson notes that “directly saying ‘no’ is often considered rude in Chinese culture.” To decline an invitation from a superior, it suggests a form such as “If I could, I would love to, but…”
The Vocabulary of Not Saying No
不置可否 To set down neither yes nor no. To give no position at all.
打哈哈 To go “haha.” To brush someone off and deal with a matter only on the surface.
打官腔 To speak in the official tone. To use official set phrases to deal with a request or to pass it on.
搪塞 To plug one hole. From an image in the Huainanzi of a dike with ten thousand holes, of which only one is plugged. To deal with something only for form’s sake.
婉拒 To refuse gently. To decline in a roundabout, polite way.
Words for Later
再说 Let’s talk about it later. Literally “speak again.” Used to put a decision off.
从长计议 To plan for the long term. Not to decide now.
好说 Easy to discuss. A modest, polite phrase. It can also mean “that can be arranged.”
推三阻四 To push three and block four. To give one excuse after another.
敷衍 To deal with something only on the surface.