一人得道 (Yī rén dé dào)
Lit. When one person becomes an immortal
From link.
Source: Han – Wang Chong – Lunheng – Dao Xu: “The Prince then attained immortality, his household ascended to heaven and his livestocks became immortals: the dogs barked from high up the sky, the cocks crowed from amidst the clouds.”
From this story, later generations formed the idiom “When one man becomes immortal, his cocks and dogs also get to ascend to heaven.”
Story: Legend has it that Liu Bang‘s grandson, the Prince of Huainan – Liu An, was very enthusiastic about practicing alchemy and cultivating the Dao, where he always dreamed of attaining immortality. One day, there were eight old men who paid a visit at the Prince of Huainan’s Manor, wishing to meet with Liu An. Upon seeing that they were all senile old men, the gatekeeper said to them: “You eight are so old that you can barely walk, what use are you to our prince?” One old man replied: “Since he doesn’t enjoy meeting old people, we will transform ourselves into young lads again!” As soon as he finished speaking, the eight old men turned into fourteen, fifteen year old lads in the blink of an eye, with full heads of black hair and faces resembling a full moon. Upon seeing this, the gatekeeper was so shocked that he rushed into the manor hall to report the event to Liu An. After Liu An heard this, he knew his visitors were no [ordinary] mortals and thus hurriedly went out to greet them ceremoniously.
From then on, Liu An called them the Eight Elders (八公) and arranged for them to live in the Si’xian (思仙, lit. Longing For Immortals) Terrace, treating them as honored guests. Those Eight Elders indeed had heavenly abilities [such as] riding on clouds, summoning winds and rains, [or even] transforming rocks into gold. They knew Liu An was determined to become an immortal, so they taught him the essence of alchemy and were [even] willing to refine elixirs for him.
Unexpectedly, just as Liu An was focused on refining his elixirs for consumption to ascend to heaven, an incident occured. It turned out that Liu An had a son called Liu Qian, who was particularly fond of practicing martial dances with spears and staffs, and considered himself to be an expert in swordsmanship. He had heard that the official Lei Bei (雷被) was an expert swordsman, so he insisted on having a competition against Lei Bei. Lei Bei had no choice but to accommodate to his wish, but unexpectedly the sharp sword had no mercy and Liu Qian was accidentally injured in the fight, whereby Liu Qian couldn’t contain his rage and departed unhappily. Lei Bei worried that Liu Qian would seek revenge against him, so he asked Liu An, the Prince of Huainan, to send him away to the north to fight against the Xiongnu, hoping that he could avoid Liu Qian in this way. Liu An did not know what had transpired and so did not agree to the request. As such, Lei Bei became even more frightened and made the preemptive move to report this to the court, accusing Liu An of not approving his request to fight against the Xiongnu. This was a serious crime at the time, but fortunately Liu An was the cousin of the then Emperor Wu of Han, so he was only being subjected to the removal of two of his counties in his fiefdom.
After this, Liu An harbored a grudge against Lei Bei. Lei Bei thought that rather than living in fear all day, it would be better to go all out and conspire with others to falsely accuse Liu An of plotting against the emperor. This time around, Emperor Wu of Han had to send men to arrest Liu An. When Liu An learned of this, he quickly convened the Eight Elders to discuss the countermeasure for dealing with the situation. The Eight Elders laughed and said to Liu An: “This is due to Your Highness’s meritorious service, and now Heaven wants to call you back.” Then they asked Liu An to take the elixir that they had been preparing. Suddenly, Liu An felt his body became as light as a swallow and started to float, and he, together with the Eight Elders, ascended to the sky. The Eight Elders’ medicine furnace that was used to refine elixirs remained in the manor’s courtyard, and a few elixirs were still scattered here and there. Cocks and dogs crowded around, pecking at and licking them, and as a result they all ascended to heaven.
—– VOCABULARY —–
充 chōng – to fill; to satisfy; to fulfill; to act in place of; substitute; sufficient; full [[sung: đầy, tràn; chất vào, lấp chặt, nạp; gánh vác, đảm nhận; giả mạo, giả làm; tịch thu]]
畜 chù – livestock; domesticated animal; domestic animal [[súc: muông thú nuôi trong nhà; phiếm chỉ cầm thú; gia súc dùng để cúng tế; súc tích, chứa]]
xù – to raise (animals) [[húc: nuôi cho ăn; dưỡng dục, nuôi nấng; bồi dưỡng, hun đúc; trị lí; bao dong; lưu lại, thu tàng; thuận tòng, thuận phục; đối đãi, đối xử, coi như; giữ, vực dậy; yêu thương]]
吠 fèi – to bark [[phệ: sủa]]
热衷 rè zhōng – to feel strongly about; to be fond of; obsession; deep commitment
衷 zhōng – inner feelings [[trung: áo lót trong; đáy lòng, nội tâm; nỗi lòng, ý trong lòng, tâm ý, tâm sự; thành thực, tự trong lòng]]
总是 zǒng shì – always
總, 总 zǒng – always; to assemble; gather; total; overall; head; chief; general; in every case [[tổng: góp lại, họp lại; buộc, bó, túm lại; đứng đầu, cầm đầu, nắm toàn bộ; đơn vị hành chánh, nhiều làng họp lại làm một “tổng”; bó rạ, bó lúa; đồ trang sức xe ngựa; đều, tất cả đều; cứ, mãi, luôn luôn; thế nào cũng; toàn diện, toàn bộ]]
梦想 mèng xiǎng – (fig.) to dream of; dream [[mơ tưởng hão huyền]]
夢, 梦 mèng – dream [[mộng: giấc mơ, giấc chiêm bao; chiêm bao, mơ; hư ảo, không thực]]
老态龙钟 lǎo tài lóng zhōng – doddering; senile
態, 态 tài – (bound form); appearance; shape; form; state; attitude; (grammar) voice [[thái: thái độ, thói; tình trạng]]
鐘, 钟 zhōng – clock; o’clock; time as measured in hours and minutes; bell [[chung: chuông (nhạc khí ngày xưa, thường làm bằng đồng, dùng khi tế tự, yến tiệc, hoặc chỉ huy chiến đấu; chuông (chùa); đồng hồ; giờ, thời gian; lượng từ – đơn vị dung lượng thời xưa, bằng mười “hộc” 斛; điểm chuông, kêu chuông]]
满月 mǎn yuè – full moon; whole month; baby’s one-month old birthday
慌忙 huāng máng – in a great rush; in a flurry [[hoang mang]]
慌 huāng – to get panicky; to lose one’s head; (coll.) (after 得) unbearably; terribly
忙 máng – busy; hurriedly; to hurry; to rush [[mang: vội gấp, cấp bách; bận rộn, không được thư nhàn; vội vàng]]
连忙 lián máng – promptly; at once
隆重 lóng zhòng – grand; prosperous; ceremonious; solemn
隆 lóng – grand; intense; prosperous; to swell; to bulge [[long: đầy, nhiều, dày; hưng thịnh, hưng khởi; sâu, thắm thiết; cao, gồ lên; làm cho cao thêm; tôn sùng]]
待 dāi – to stay
dài – to wait; to treat; to deal with; to need; going to (do sth); about to; intending to [[đãi: đợi, chờ; tiếp đãi, đối xử; phòng bị, chống cự; dựa vào, nương tựa; muốn, định; ở lại, lưu lại]]
騰, 腾 téng – to soar; to gallop; to prance; to turn over; to vacate; to clear [[đằng: chạy mau, nhảy lên, rong ruổi; bốc lên cao, vọt lên; bốc hơi; cưỡi; dành ra, bớt ra]]
霧, 雾 wù – fog; mist [[vụ: sương mù, xa đất là “vân” 雲 mây, gần đất là “vụ” 霧 mù; cái gì giống như bụi nước, sương mù đều gọi là “vụ”]]
務 wù – affair; business; matter; to be engaged in; to attend to; by all means [[vụ: chuyên tâm, chăm chú; mưu lấy, truy cầu; nhất thiết, cốt phải, tất dùng; việc, công tác; sở thu thuế ngày xưa]]
传授 chuán shòu – to impart; to pass on; to teach [[truyền thụ, truyền đạt]]
授 shòu – to teach; to instruct; to award; to give [[thụ: cho, trao cho; truyền dạy; trao ngôi quan, nhậm chức]]
并 bìng – and; furthermore; also; together with; (not) at all; simultaneously; to combine; to join; to merge; to combine; to amalgamate [[tịnh: hợp, tụ hợp; bao gồm; thôn tính, chiếm nuốt; cùng nhau, đều; dùng trước từ phủ định, làm tăng thêm ý phủ định – quyết (không), hoàn toàn (không); ngay xả; tỉnh: thông “bình” 屏 – ruồng bỏ, vứt bỏ; đuổi lui ra, hô người tránh ra xa; ức chế, đè nén]]
吞服 tūn fú – to swallow; to take (medicine)
升天 shēng tiān – lit. to ascend to heaven; to die
遷, 迁 qiān – to move; to shift; to change (a position or location etc); to promote [[thiên: dời, chuyển; đổi quan; biến đổi]]
尤其 yóu qí – especially; particularly [[nhất là, đặc biệt là]]
尤 yóu – outstanding; particularly, especially; a fault; to express discontentment against [[vưu: lạ kì, khác thường, đặc dị, ưu tú; người hay vật lạ kì, khác thường, đặc dị, ưu tú; lầm lỗi; oán trách, oán hận; gần gũi, thân ái; càng, thật là]]
怒不可遏 nù bù kě è – unable to restrain one’s anger (idiom); in a towering rage
遏 è – to restrain; to check; to hold back [[át: ngăn cấm, đè nén, nhịn, dằn; đến, đạt tới; tổn hại, làm hại]]
报复 bào fù – to make reprisals; to retaliate; revenge; retaliation [[báo thù, trả thù]]
復, 复 fù – to go and return; to return; to resume; to return to a normal or original state; to repeat; again; to recover; to restore; to turn over; to reply; to answer; to reply to a letter; to retaliate; to carry out [[phục: trở lại, đã đi rồi trở lại; lập lại như trước, hoàn nguyên; báo đáp; miễn trừ (tạp dịch, thuế); lại; bổ sung hoặc điều hòa âm tiết trong câu]]
原委 yuán wěi – the whole story
委 wěi – to entrust; to cast aside; to shift (blame etc); to accumulate; roundabout; winding; dejected; listless; committee member; council; end; actually; certainly [[ủy: giao phó; vất bỏ, trút bỏ; đổ cho, đùn cho, gán; chồng chất, chất chứa; khô héo, tiều tụy; đặt để; ngọn, cuối, ngọn nguồn; mệt mỏi, suy yếu; quanh co; nhỏ bé, vụn vặt, nhỏ nhen; thực là, quả thực; tùy thuận, thuận theo]]
允许 yǔn xǔ – to permit; to allow [[cho phép, đồng ý]]
允 yǔn – just; fair; to permit; to allow [[duẫn: đồng ý, chấp thuận, cho phép; thật là; thích hợp, thỏa đáng]]
削除 xuē chú – to remove; to eliminate; to delete
削 xiāo – to peel with a knife; to pare; to cut (a ball at tennis etc)
xuē – to pare; to reduce; to remove [[tước: vót, gọt, đẽo; chia cắt; trừ bỏ, đoạt hẳn; suy giảm, yếu mòn; bóc lột; quở trách]]
与其 yǔ qí – rather than…
担惊受怕 dān jīng shòu pà – to feel apprehensive; to be alarmed
不休 bù xiū – endlessly; ceaselessly [[không ngớt, không ngừng]]
休 xiū – to rest; to stop doing sth for a period of time; to cease; (imperative) don’t [[hưu: việc tốt lành, phúc lộc; nghỉ ngơi; thôi, ngưng, ngừng, ngớt; lui về, thôi không làm chức việc nữa; bỏ vợ, (chồng) hủy bỏ hôn nhân; vui, mừng; tốt đẹp; đừng, chớ; dùng cuối câu – đi, đây, thôi]]
诬告 wū gào – to frame sb; to accuse falsely [[vu oan, tố cáo oan]]
誣, 诬 wū – to accuse falsely [[vu: lừa dối, không mà bảo là có; xằng bậy, hư vọng, không thật]]
捉拿 zhuō ná – to arrest; to catch a criminal
顿时 dùn shí – immediately; suddenly
頓, 顿 dùn – to stop; to pause; to arrange; to lay out; to kowtow; to stamp (one’s foot); at once; classifier for meals, beatings, scoldings etc – time, bout, spell, meal [[đốn: cúi sát đất, giẫm xuống đất; đứng, dừng lại, ngưng; sắp xếp; sửa sang; đóng binh, đồn trú; mệt mỏi; cùn, nhụt; vỡ lở, hư hỏng; lượng từ – lần, thứ, hồi, bữa; bỗng chốc, chợt, liền, tức khắc]]
忽 hū – to neglect; to overlook; to ignore; suddenly [[hốt: chểnh mảng, lơ là, sao nhãng; coi thường, khinh thị; chợt, thình lình; đơn vị đo lường ngày xưa, phép đo có thước, tấc, phân, li, hào, ti, hốt. Phép cân có lạng, đồng, phân, li, hào, ti, hốt]]
燕 yān, yàn – swallow (family Hirundinidae) [[yến: chim én; yên nghỉ; vui họp uống rượu; quen, nhờn]]
爐, 炉 lú – stove; furnace [[lô: lò, bếp]]
遗留 yí liú – to leave behind; to hand down
遺, 遗 yí – to lose; to leave behind; to omit; to bequeath; sth lost; involuntary discharge (of urine etc) [[di: mất, đánh rơi; bỏ sót; để lại; vứt bỏ; bỏ đi, xa lìa; quên; bài tiết; thặng dư, thừa ra; vật rơi, vật bỏ mất; còn lại; dị: tặng, cấp cho]]
顆, 颗 kē – classifier for small spheres, pearls, corn grains, teeth, hearts, satellites etc [[khỏa: lượng từ, đếm vật hình tròn – hột, viên, hạt]]
围拢 wéi lǒng – to crowd around
攏, 拢 lǒng – to gather together; to collect; to approach; to draw near to; to add; to sum up; to comb (hair) [[long: họp lại, tụ tập; lũng: sửa cho ngay, chải tóc; nhấn vuốt đàn (một thủ pháp gảy nhạc khí có dây); đỗ thuyền]]
啄 zhuó – to peck [[trác: mổ (chim dùng mỏ ăn); mỏ chim; nét phẩy ngắn, cầm bút nghiêng từ bên phải phất xuống bên trái (thư pháp)]]
舔 tiǎn – to lick; to lap [[thiểm: liếm, dùng lưỡi liếm]]
忝 tiǎn – to shame [[thiểm: làm nhục, ô nhục; dùng làm lời nói khiêm]]