Persuasion Archives - understand-culture

The Fox and the Tiger

King Xuan of Chu asked his ministers whether the northern states really feared Zhao Xixu. The ministers were silent. Jiang Yi answered with a story. A tiger caught a fox. The fox said that the Lord of Heaven had made him leader of all the beasts. He told the tiger to walk behind him and watch.

The beasts ran at the sight of them. “The tiger did not know that the beasts ran because they feared him. He thought they feared the fox.” (Strategies of the Warring States) The idiom 狐假虎威, the fox borrows the tiger’s might, comes from this story.

Holding the Emperor

After Cao Cao took Yan province, his adviser Mao Jie told him that he should “serve the Son of Heaven in order to command those who do not submit” (奉天子以令不臣). Cao Cao took the advice. (Records of the Three Kingdoms) In 196, he moved the Han emperor’s court to Xu.

In the Longzhong Plan, Zhuge Liang told Liu Bei that Cao Cao could not be fought head-on. “Now Cao Cao has a million men, and he holds the Son of Heaven to command the lords.” The idiom 挟天子以令诸侯 is based on this line.

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought

In its section on the general requirements for 2025, China’s Government Work Report says that the year’s work must be done “under the firm leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core” and “guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”

The same formula appears far from Beijing. Xiamen University’s plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan period opens its introduction: “Xiamen University will be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era…”

The Leader’s Intent

In August 2015, the website of the National Development and Reform Commission published “Five Steps for Writing Official Documents,” by an official of a county Party organization department in Yunnan. The writer, it says, must “learn the leader’s intentions in detail” and the requirements for the document, and leave out personal likes and dislikes.

The writer should then “take the leader’s point of view” to understand the situation, analyze problems and propose measures.

The Vocabulary of Borrowed Authority

尚方剑 The imperial sword. A sword the emperor gave to an official, “a symbol of being authorized to decide on one’s own.” In plays and novels, an official who holds it may execute first and report afterward. Also 尚方宝剑.

拉大旗作虎皮 To raise a big banner as a tiger skin. To frighten others under a fine-sounding banner, and so protect oneself. Lu Xun used the image in 1936, in his reply to Xu Maoyong.

揣摩 To work out what something means. Also to guess. A dictionary gives an example from chapter 24 of the novel Wenming xiaoshi (文明小史): “If those above want new policies, talk of new policies. If they want to recruit the Boxers, talk of the Boxers.”

The Snipe and the Clam

Zhao was about to attack Yan. Su Dai, speaking for the king of Yan, told King Hui of Zhao what he had seen at the Yi River. A clam had opened its shell in the sun, and a snipe pecked at its flesh. The clam closed on the bird’s beak. Neither would let go, and a fisherman caught them both.

“Now Zhao is about to attack Yan,” Su Dai said. “Yan and Zhao will hold each other off for a long time and wear out their people. I fear that mighty Qin will be the fisherman.” The king said: “Good.” And he stopped. (Strategies of the Warring States) The idiom 鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利, the snipe and the clam fight and the fisherman gains, is drawn from this story.

Whether the Shoe Fits

On March 23, 2013, Xi Jinping spoke at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. On the right of each people to choose its own path of development, he quoted a saying: “Whether the shoe fits is known only by the one who wears it.”

He went on: “Whether a country’s path of development suits it, only the people of that country have the greatest say.”

Borrowing Grain

Zhuang Zhou was poor and went to borrow grain from the Marquis of Jianhe. The marquis answered: “Yes. I am about to collect the taxes of my town. Then I will lend you three hundred pieces of gold. Will that do?”

Zhuang Zhou flushed with anger. On his way, he said, he had seen a carp in the rut of a cart, asking for a little water to stay alive. He had promised to go south to the kings of Wu and Yue and turn the West River to meet it. The carp answered that it would be better to “look for me early in the dried-fish shop.” (Zhuangzi, External Things)

Win First, Then Fight

In the chapter on disposition in The Art of War, Sunzi writes: “The victorious army first wins and then seeks battle. The defeated army first fights and then seeks victory.” In the original: 胜兵先胜而后求战，败兵先战而后求胜.

Three in the Morning

In the Zhuangzi, a monkey keeper hands out acorns. “Three in the morning and four in the evening,” he says. The monkeys are all angry. “Then four in the morning and three in the evening.” The monkeys are all pleased. Zhuangzi comments: “Neither the name nor the substance had changed, yet joy and anger were put to use.”

The idiom 朝三暮四 comes from this passage. Dictionaries say that it first meant to deceive people with a trick. Later it came to mean to keep changing one’s mind.