lying with one's head pillowed on a spear,waiting for day to break

In the western jin dynasty there were two young men.one of them was zu ti and the other was liu kun.both of them were men of ideals and integrity who were chivalrous and of a sanguine disposition.they not only wrote excellent articles but also were fond of practising martial arts to keep fit, in order to render meritorious service to the country.both of them were chief clerks responsible for document administration in luoyang.although in appearance the jin dynasty had jurisdiction of the central plains comprising the middle and lower reaches of the haunch and threatened by foreign invasion.zu ti and liu kun often talked about the country's situation till late into the night,and each time they talking very excitedly again.liu kun fell asleep without knowing it,but zu ti was too excited to fall asleep." cock-a-doodle-doo,"came the crow of rooster in the wasteland.zu ti jumped up and kicked liu kun awake:"listen.how inspiring the rooster's crow is.let's get up and practised on a slope.from then on,they kept practising sword playing vigorously and energetically in the wasteland every day when they heard the first crow in the morning.deeply moved by zu ti's patriotic passion,liu kun was determined to devote himself to his homeland.once he wrote to his family:"at the time when the country is in dire peril,i am resolved to dedicate myselt to the service of my country.i often fear that i might lag behind zu ti in rendering service to the country,and,in fact,i am behind him..." the words" sleep with my head pillowed on a spear,waiting for the day to break"vividly described liu kun's determination to dedicate himself to the service of the country and to fight the enemy at any time.later,this set phrase is used to mean maintaining sharp vigilance and being ready to fight at any time."

Sun Wukong

Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King, is a main character in the classical Chinese epic novel Journey to the West (Chinese: 西遊記; pinyin: Xīyóujì) written by Wu Cheng'en. In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices. After rebelling against heaven and being imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha, he later accompanies the monk Xuanzang on a journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from India.

Sun Wukong possesses an immense amount of strength; he is able to lift his 13,500 jīn (8,100 kg or 17,881 lbs) staff with ease. He is also superbly fast, able to travel 108,000 li (54,000 kilometers or 33,554 mi) in one somersault. Sun knows 72 transformations, which allows him to transform into various animals and objects; he has trouble, however, transforming into other people, because he is unable to complete the transformation of his tail. He is a skilled fighter, capable of holding his own against the best generals of heaven. Each of his hairs possesses magical properties, and is capable of transforming either into a clone of the Monkey King himself, or various weapons, animals, and other objects. He also knows spells that can command wind, part water, conjure protective circles against demons, and freeze humans, demons, and gods alike.

One of the most enduring Chinese literary characters, Sun Wukong has a varied background and colorful cultural history. For example, Sun Wukong is considered by some American, Chinese, and Indian scholars to be influenced by both the Hindu deity Hanuman from the Ramayana and elements of Chinese folklore

One of the most enduring Chinese literary characters, Sun Wukong has a varied background and colorful cultural history. For example, Sun Wukong is considered by some American, Chinese, and Indian scholars to be influenced by both the Hindu deity Hanuman from the Ramayana and elements of Chinese folklore.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century,[1] is a historical novel set amidst the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 CE and ending with the reunification of the land in 280 CE.

The story (part historical, part legend, and part myth) romanticises and dramatises the lives of feudal lords and their retainers, who tried to replace the dwindling Han Dynasty or restore it. While the novel actually follows literally hundreds of characters, the focus is mainly on the three power blocs that emerged from the remnants of the Han Dynasty, and would eventually form the three states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The novel deals with the plots, personal and army battles, intrigues, and struggles of these states to achieve dominance for almost 100 years. This novel also gives readers a sense of how the Chinese view their history in a cyclical lens. The famous opening lines of the novel summarise this view: It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite, and anything long united will surely divide (話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分).

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature; it has a total of 800,000 words and nearly a thousand dramatic characters (mostly historical) in 120 chapters. The novel is among the most beloved works of literature in East Asia,[4] and its literary influence in the region has been compared to that of the works of Shakespeare had on English literature. It is arguably the most widely read historical novel in late imperial and modern China.

秦始皇-Qin Shi Huang

Qin Shi Huangdi (Wade-Giles: Chin Shih Huang; Chinese: 秦始皇; 259 BC–210 BC; personal name: Zhao Zheng (Wade-Giles: Chao Cheng; Chinese: 趙政); name in classical Chinese: (趙正) was the king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC, during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC. He ruled until his death in 210 BC at the age of 49.

Calling himself the First Emperor (Chinese: 始皇帝, Shǐ Huángdì) after China's unification, Qín Shǐ Huáng is a pivotal figure in Chinese history, ushering nearly two millennia of imperial rule. After unifying China, he and his chief advisor Li Si passed a series of major economic and political reforms. He undertook gigantic projects, including building and unifying various sections of the Great Wall of China, the now famous city-sized mausoleum guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army, and a massive national road system, all at the expense of numerous lives. To make sure her died Qin Shi Huang outlawed and burned many books and buried some scholars alive.

It’s My Life

This ain’t a song for the broken-hearted 

No silent prayer for the faith-departed 

I ain’t gonna be just a face in the crowd 

You’re gonna hear my voice 

When I shout it out loud 

It’s my life 

It’s now or never 

I ain’t gonna live forever

I just want to live while I’m alive

It’s my life

My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said I did it my way 

I just wanna live while I’m alive

It’s My Life 

This is for the ones who stood their ground 

For Tommy and Gina who never backed down 

Tomorrow’s getting harder make no mistake 

Luck ain’t even lucky

Got to make your own breaks 

It’s my life

And it’s now or never

I ain’t gonna live forever

I just want to live while I’m alive

It’s my life

My heart is like an open highway 

Like Frankie said I did it my way

I just want to live while I’m alive

It’s My Life 

Better stand tall when they’re calling you out 

Don’t bend, don’t break, baby, don’t back down 

It’s my life

And it’s now or never 

I ain’t gonna live forever 

I just want to live while I’m alive 

It’s my life

My heart is like an open highway 

Like Frankie said I did it my way

I just want to live while I’m alive

It’s My Life 

And it’s now or never 

’Cause I ain’t gonna live forever 

I just want to live while I’m alive

It’s my life

My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said I did it my way

I just want to live while I’m alive 

It’s My Life! 

Have a well-thought-out plan

In the song Dynasty (960-1279),there was a scholar whose name was Wen Tong and who styled himself Yuke. He was not only admired by others for his great learning, but also enjoyed widespread renown for his bamboo drawing. Every day there were always quite a few peoply who called at his house to ask for one of his bamboo drawings.

Actually, Wen Tong loved bamboos so much that he had grown various bamboos everywhere around his house. No matter what season it was and no matter whether it was sunny or rainy, he used to go to the bamboo forest to observe how they were growing. He pondered over the lenght and breadth of the bamboo poles as well as the shapes and colours of the leaves. Whenever he had gained a new understanding, he went back to his study, spread a piece of paper and prepareed some ink by rubbing an ink stick on an ink slab, and drew what was in his mind on the paper. Through accumulation over a long period of time, the images of the bamboo in different seasons, under different weather conditions and at different moments were deeply imprinted in his mind.So whenever he stood before the paper and picked up a painting brush with concentrated attention, the various forms of the bamboo which he had observed at ordinary times at once rose before his eyes. And so every time he was drawing bamboos he appeared confident and at ease, and all the bamboos he had painted were very vivid and true to lift.

  

When people spoke highly of his paintings, he always said modestly that he had just put the images of the bamboo imprinted in his mind on the paper.

  

A young man wanted to learn bamboo drawing; when he knew that Chao Buzhi had made a profound study of Wen Tong's art of drawing, he went to Chao Buzhi for instruction. Chao Buzhi wrote a poem to him. In the poem, there are the following two lines:

  When Yuke was painting the bamboos,

  He bad their images ready in his bosom.

  

Later people have summarized the lines as " having had the images of the bamboo ready in one's bosom," which means having had ready plans or designs in one's mind before doing a certain job so that its success is guaranteed. It is also used go mean being calm and cool - headed in dealing with things.

  

This story comes from an article writted by Su Shi concerning Wen Yuke's art of bamboo drawing.

Latecomers become the first

 Ji An lived at the time of Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D.24). He was respected for being upright and just and for daring to speak the truth. He did not bother about amall matters in personal behaviour and in being an official. He was particular about actual effects and ,although he did not cause a stir ,he could keep the prefecture he governed in perfect order. Because of this. the imperial court transferred him to the central government from being the perfect of the Donghai Prefecture to being a commander in charge of the appointment and dismissal of the local officals. 

Once,Emperor Wudi said that he would implement the policy of benevolence and justice of Confucianism and would do good turns to the people.Emperor Wudi Had hardly finished his remards when Ji An said that there was no need for the emperor to say so.Why should the emperor bother,Ji An said, about pretending to implement the policy of benevolence and justice since he was so greedy and avaricious within himself? This choked the emperor off. The emperor suddenly Changed his countenance and declared the meeting over. All the civilian and military officers at court were breathless with anxiety for fear that Ji An might bring disaster upon himself because of this. After returning, Emperor Wudi said to the people around him that Ji An was a little too rude and too straightforward.

For this reason ,Ji An was never promoted again. When he was the commander in charge of the appointment and dismissal of the local officials, both Gongsun Hong and Zhang Tang were low -ranking lfficials of little importance. Later ,they were promoted continuously. Gongsun Hong became the prime minister and Zhang Tang became the imperial censor. However, JiAn's post remained thesame. One day, Ji An said to Emperor Wudi that the way the emperor used his ministers was just like piling up firewood, which meant that the latecomers surpassed the old-timers. Of course, Emperor Wudi could see that Ji An was complaining. So,turning to his ministers, Emperor Wudi said, "It is true that no one can stop learning.You see, Ji An is making more and more indiscreet remarks."

This story comes from The Historical Records. Later generations use the set phrase "the latecomers surpass the old-timers " to indicate that successors can cxcel the predecessors, which is quite different from the original idea when Ji An said that the latecomers surpassed the old-timers.

Plugging One's Ears While Stealing a Bell

During the Spring and Autumn period,Zhi Bo of the State of Jin destroyed Fan's family.Taking advantage of this occasion,a man went to Fan's house and tried to steal something.As soon as the man entered the gate,he saw that there hung a big bell in the courtyard.The bell was cast in high-quality bronza,and was beautiful in design and shape.The theif was very glad,and decided to carry this beautiful bell back home.But no matter how hard he tried,he could not move the bell,because the bell was both big and heavy.He thought and thought again,and believed there was only one way to solve the problem.He had to break the bell to pieces before he was able to carry them back to his home separately. 

The thief found a big iron hammer,with which he struck the bell with all his might.The striking produced an enormous crashing sound,which might.The striking produced an enormous crashing sound,which made the thief terribly frightened.The thief got flurried,thinking that it was too bad to have produced the crashiing sound which would himself on the bell,trying to muffle the crashing sound with his arms.But how could the crashing sound of the bell be muffled?The crashing sound still kept drifting melodiously to distant places.The more he listened to the sound,the more frightened hw became.He xubconsciously shrank back,and covered his ears hard with his hands."Hey, the sound becomes fainter, inaudible," the thief became cheerful at once," wonderful!The sound of the bell can not be heard when the ears are covered."He immediately got some odd bits of cloth,made two rolls with them,and had his ears plugged with the two cloth rolls.He thought that in this way nobody could hear the sound of the bell.Feeling relieved,he began striking the bell,one blow after another.The resounding sound of the bell was heard at distant places,and finally people caught the thief by gracing the sound. 

This story comes from"Knowing Yourself" in The Annals by Buwei,written just before the Qin Dynasty（221-207 B.C.）was founded.Allegedly,when Li Yuan,Emperor Gao Zu of the Tang Dynasty（618-907），read this story,he felt it simply ridiculous and said,"This is what is called plugging one's ears while stealing a bell." 

Later,people have used the set phrase "plugging one's ears while stealing a bell" to refer to the ignorance and foolishness of the person who deceives himself as well as others.

Do not burn you house to get rid of a mouse

There is a story in "Hanshu" telling of a rich man, who being a lover of s and had a large collection. Among them was a rare vase made of jade. The vase of exquisite workmanship and of historical value and he loved it dearly. One night he noticed a mouse passing near the precious vase. The mouse jumped into the vase and was trying to eat some food which the man had carelessly left there. The sigh infuriated the man and in a fit of rage he threw a stone at the mouse.

For sure, the mouse was killed, but the precious vase was broken also. The loss of the vase pained the man GREatly and he deeply regretted his own thoughtlessness, which bought him this unrecoverable loss. He now realized that any one, who cares for the present and overlooks consequences is apt to bring disasters upon himself. So he exclaimed to warn people by saying do not burn you house to get rid of a mouse.

The Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Begining of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coodination with the changes of Nature). Its origin is too old to be traced. Several explanations are hanging around.however, that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means "year", was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year.

One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow many people with one bite. People were very scared. One day, an old man came to their village, offering to subdue Nian. he said to Nian, "I hear that you are very strong, but can you swallow the other beasts on earth instead of people who are no means for your opponents?" So, it did swallow many of the beasts on earth that also harrassed people and their domestic animals from time to time.

After that, the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian. He turned out to be an immortal god. Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of prey are also scared into forests, people begin to enjoy their peaceful life. Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case it sneaked back again, because red is the color the beast feared the most.

From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation to generation. The term "Guo Nian", which may mean "Survive the Nian" becomes today "Celebrate the (New) Year" as the word "guo" in Chinese having both the meaning of "pass-over" and "observe". The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.