Gradual Proof Archives - understand-culture

Strong Wind

In the Book of the Later Han, Wang Ba is told: “Of those from Yingchuan who followed me, all have gone. You alone stayed. Strive on! A strong wind shows which grass is tough.” The last words, jifeng zhi jingcao (疾风知劲草), became an idiom. Another Han history, the Dongguan Hanji, names the emperor as the speaker.

The New Book of Tang records a poem given to the minister Xiao Yu: “A strong wind shows which grass is tough. Times of turmoil show which minister is sincere.” The Handian dictionary explains the idiom this way: only a severe test shows who is truly strong.

Probation Before Membership

Under the Communist Party’s rules for admitting new members, issued on May 11, 2026, an activist who has had one year or more of cultivation and examination, and who basically meets the conditions, may be listed as a target for admission (Article 13).

Once approved as a probationary member, a person serves a probationary period of one year (Article 31). At its end, a probationary member who has met the duties and conditions becomes a full member. One who needs more examination may have the period extended once, by at least six months and at most a year. One who does not meet the conditions loses the place.

Speaking Too Deeply

Jiao qian yan shen (交浅言深). The acquaintance is shallow, but the words are deep. The Handian dictionary defines it as talking about intimate matters with someone one does not know well, and says that it means speaking without proper measure. Confucius made a related point: “If a person can be spoken with and one does not speak, one loses the person. If a person cannot be spoken with and one speaks, one loses the words.” (Analects, chapter Wei Linggong)

The idiom comes from the Strategies of the Warring States, where the line reads: “Deep words in a shallow acquaintance are disorder.” Handian also cites a version of the same passage in which deep words in a shallow acquaintance are called loyalty.

How Trust Is Built

In 1999, Peng Siqing published a paper on how trust is built in the journal Sociological Studies (社会学研究). Its title names two ways: relationship work and legal means. The paper states that “the actual degree of trust between people is determined jointly by initial trust and by their interaction.” The degree of trust between two people, it says, “depends mainly on how good the real relationship between them is.”

Entering the Room

In the Analects, Confucius says of his disciple Zilu: “You has ascended to the hall, but he has not yet entered the inner room.” (由也升堂矣，未入于室也) The idiom 登堂入室, to ascend the hall and enter the room, describes reaching a high level. The Handian dictionary adds that it can also mean receiving a master’s teaching in depth.

An 入室弟子, a disciple of the inner room, is one who has received the master’s true teaching. The dictionary’s example comes from the Book of Jin, about the scholar Yang Ke: “Even students who received his instruction could not speak with him in person unless they were disciples of the inner room.”

Sayings on Time and Trust

路遥知马力，日久见人心 A long road shows a horse’s strength. A long time shows a person’s heart. The saying appears in a Yuan play, The Fight to Repay Kindness (争报恩).

信用 Credit, trustworthiness. The Handian dictionary defines it as “the trust gained by keeping one’s promises.” Its example: “He is a person who keeps his word. Since he said he would help, he will surely help.”

The Head as a Pledge

In the Water Margin, Lin Chong comes to Liangshan to join the outlaws. Zhu Gui explains the rule to him: “Whenever a hero joins, he must hand in a toumingzhuang. He goes down the mountain, kills a man and presents the head. Then there is no suspicion of him. This is called a toumingzhuang.” The leader Wang Lun gives Lin Chong three days to bring one.

Listen to the Words, Watch the Deeds

When his disciple Zai Yu slept during the day, Confucius said: “At first, with people, I listened to their words and trusted their deeds. Now, with people, I listen to their words and watch their deeds. It was Zai Yu who made me change.” (Analects 5.10)

He also said: “The gentleman wishes to be slow in speech and quick in action.” (Analects 4.24)

Zengzi Kills the Pig

Zengzi’s wife was going to the market, and their son followed her, crying. She told him to go home and promised to kill the pig for him when she came back. When she returned, Zengzi was about to catch the pig. She stopped him. “I was only joking with the child.”

Zengzi answered: “A child is not someone to joke with. A child does not yet know anything. He learns from his parents and listens to what they teach. If you deceive him now, you teach him to deceive.” He cooked the pig. The Han Feizi tells the story under the line “When small trust is kept, great trust is established.”