Go-Between Archives - understand-culture

Thread and Needle

In Liu Xiang’s Garden of Persuasions (说苑), Lord Mengchang has placed a retainer with the King of Qi. After three years the man has still received no post, and he complains. Lord Mengchang answers: “A thread enters by the needle, but the needle does not make it hold. A woman marries through a matchmaker, but the matchmaker does not make the two close. Your talent must be thin.”

The retainer replies that a fox in the altar of the soil is not attacked, and a rat in the altar is not smoked out, “because of what they rest on.” Lord Mengchang then recommended him to Qi again, and the King of Qi made him chief minister. The idiom 穿针引线, to thread the needle, means to act as a go-between.

The Thirteen Hongs

From 1757, foreign merchants could trade only at Guangzhou, and only through the Thirteen Hongs, the licensed merchant houses. A foreign merchant who wanted Chinese tea, porcelain or silk had to buy it through a hong. A Chinese study notes that all negotiations between the foreign merchants and the Chinese side went through the Thirteen Hongs as intermediary.

The Pakistan Channel

In 1970 and 1971, messages between Richard Nixon and Zhou Enlai passed through Pakistan’s president, Yahya Khan. Zhou’s reply said that the Chinese government welcomed an American envoy and that the timing “may be settled through the President of Pakistan.”

On July 8, 1971, Henry Kissinger arrived in Islamabad. At a banquet, Yahya Khan announced loudly that the heat had affected Kissinger’s health and invited him to rest for two days at the presidential villa. Kissinger instead flew secretly to Beijing and met Zhou Enlai.

Leave the Surrounded Army a Gap

Chapter 7 of The Art of War lists rules for the use of troops. Among them: “Do not block an army that is going home. When surrounding an army, leave it a gap. Do not press an enemy at bay.” In the original: 归师勿遏，围师必阙，穷寇勿迫.

Old Uncle

In the Wu dialects of Shanghai and the area around it, 娘舅, uncle, usually means a respected older man who speaks fairly. A 老娘舅, an old uncle, is the person people call in to settle a quarrel.

In January 2008, a Shanghai television channel launched New Old Uncle (新老娘舅), a mediation show. In each episode, people in conflict sit down with a people’s mediator, who tries to settle their dispute. Similar programs followed in nearby places, among them Qiantang Old Uncle in Zhejiang from 2009 and Wuxi Old Uncle from 2011. Jiangxi Television’s Gold Medal Mediation (金牌调解) began in 2011.

Shooting the Halberd

In chapter 16 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Yuan Shu sends his general Ji Ling to attack Liu Bei at Xiaopei. Lü Bu invites both men to his camp. “I have invited your two houses to settle your quarrel, not to make you fight.”

He has his halberd planted at the camp gate, 150 paces away. If his arrow hits the small blade of the halberd, both sides will withdraw. If it misses, they may go back and fight. Whoever does not accept, he will fight himself.

The arrow hits. Lü Bu laughs, takes Ji Ling and Liu Bei by the hand and says: “Heaven orders your two houses to stop fighting!” Then he has wine poured for everyone.

Talks in Beijing

From March 6 to 10, 2023, delegations from Saudi Arabia and Iran held talks in Beijing. On March 10, China, Saudi Arabia and Iran issued a joint statement there. The two countries agreed to restore diplomatic relations and to reopen their embassies within two months at most. The statement opens by saying that the talks were a response to an initiative of Xi Jinping.

Steps to Come Down

给台阶下 To give someone steps to come down. To offer a way out of an awkward position.

不了了之 To settle a matter by not settling it. To leave it unfinished, let it drag on, and count it as done.

冷处理 Cold treatment. To leave a matter untouched for now and settle it at a better moment.

推托 To decline with an excuse.

婉拒 To refuse gently.

People in the Middle

中间人 A person in the middle. Someone who introduces, mediates or witnesses between two sides.

和事佬 A peacemaker. Someone who settles quarrels.

说和 To talk two sides into making peace. The word appears in Dream of the Red Chamber.

托人 To entrust a matter to another person. To ask someone to act on one’s behalf.

Argument Tea

吃讲茶 To drink argument tea. In old China, the two sides of a dispute went to a teahouse and asked the people there to judge who was right. A 2024 article on Chengdu teahouses describes it: “When ordinary people had a conflict, they did not go to the authorities but to the teahouse for mediation.”