China Archives - Page 63 of 112 - understand-culture

Body Shares

The Shanxi draft banks hired only people from their home region in Shanxi. A study of the banks found that a new employee needed “two well-established guarantors to recommend him.” The guarantors also covered the losses if he proved dishonest.

Staff who proved themselves could later receive 身股, body shares, a share of the profits without putting in any capital. According to the same study, shares were granted after “more than three consecutive fiscal years with excellent performance.” A Chinese account adds that the books were settled every three to five years.

Sixty-Six Years to a Civil Code

Work on a civil code began in 1954, soon after the first constitution. The Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Cultural Revolution interrupted it. A second attempt began in 1962, a third in 1979, and a fourth in 2001. In the meantime, the civil law was made in separate statutes.

On May 28, 2020, the National People’s Congress adopted the Civil Code. It took effect on January 1, 2021.

The Tavern Chalkboard

In Lu Xun’s story Kong Yiji, the narrator says that in the tavern, Kong Yiji behaved better than others. “He never left a debt unpaid.” When he had no cash, his drinks were “written on the chalkboard for the time being, but within a month he always paid, and Kong Yiji’s name was wiped off the board.”

Then Kong Yiji stops coming. Two or three days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the tavern keeper takes down the board. “Kong Yiji hasn’t been here for a long time. He still owes nineteen coins!” He says it again at the end of the year, and again at the Dragon Boat Festival the next year.

Exchange, Compare, Repeat

Chen Yun’s motto was “not only superiors, not only books, only reality” (不唯上、不唯书、只唯实). He paired it with a method: “exchange, compare, repeat” (交换、比较、反复). Exchange views to see a question more completely. Compare different plans to reach the right conclusion. Consider again and again before making the final decision.

On January 24, 1990, he wrote the words on a scroll for Li Zemin, then party secretary of Zhejiang.

Liu Laolao Asks for Help

In chapter 6 of Dream of the Red Chamber, the poor country woman Liu Laolao comes to the Jia mansion to ask for help. Wang Xifeng first explains that the household is busy. “From outside it looks splendid,” she says, “but no one knows that a great house has great difficulties.”

“Liu Laolao heard the talk of difficulties and took it to mean there was nothing,” and her heart pounded. Then Xifeng gives her twenty taels of silver. Liu Laolao answers with a coarse saying, and the servant who brought her keeps signaling with her eyes for her to stop.

Jiang Taigong Goes Fishing

According to legend, Jiang Taigong fished in the river Wei, hoping to meet a wise ruler. His hook was straight. When King Wen of Zhou found him and asked why, he said that the fish he wanted would come to the hook of its own will. King Wen took him as his teacher.

The saying 姜太公钓鱼，愿者上钩, “when Jiang Taigong fishes, the willing take the bait,” comes from this story.

The Vocabulary of Delay

从长计议 To plan from a long view. Not to decide in a hurry, but to discuss the matter slowly.

缓兵之计 A plan to slow the troops. A delaying tactic, used to gain time before acting.

推三阻四 To push three and block four. To decline with one excuse after another.

含糊其辞 To keep one’s words vague. To speak unclearly on purpose and take no clear position.

欲言又止 To want to speak and then stop. To hold back what one has to say.

Black Hair Turned White

In March 1999, Premier Zhu Rongji spoke about China’s long negotiations to rejoin GATT and enter the World Trade Organization: “China has been negotiating to rejoin GATT and join the WTO for 13 years. Black hair has turned white. It is time to end these negotiations.”

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.

Pulling Up the Sprouts

Mencius told of a man of Song who worried that his sprouts were not growing, so he pulled them up a little. He came home worn out and told his family: “I am exhausted today. I helped the sprouts grow!” His son ran out to look. The sprouts had withered.

Mencius concluded: “Few in the world do not help their sprouts grow. Those who help them grow are the ones who pull up sprouts. It is not only useless. It does harm.” The idiom 揠苗助长 comes from this passage.