百步穿楊 (Bǎi bù chuān yáng)
Originated from “Zhan Guo Ce – Book of Western Zhou“.
Chu had Yang Youji (養由基), a master in archery, who hit [painted] willow leaves from a distance of one hundred steps in every try [literally “one hundred tries, one hundred hits”].
Explanation: this and the idiom “One Hundred Hits in One Hundred Tries” have the same meaning. They are metaphors for incomparable archery skill, which also extends to describing anyone with extraordinary capability.
It was said that when the famous general Bai Qi of the State of Qin led troops to attack the State of Wei (魏國), there was a counselor by the name of Su Li (蘇厲) who caught wind of the news and quickly went to see the King of Zhou to remind him thus: “If Qin is able to occupy Wei, your precarious situation will become even more dangerous.” It turned out that at the time of the story, although the King of Zhou was the Heaven’s Son in theory, he in fact had no jurisdiction over other vassal states. If Wei was to be defeated by Qin, Qin’s power and influence would be greatly enhanced, thus posing as a great threat to the King of Zhou. The King of Zhou asked Su Li for what to do, whereupon Su Li proposed to the king to quickly dispatch men to persuade Bai Qi to stop his attack. They told Bai Qi the following story.
Su Li told an old story [for the messengers] to bring to Bai Qi: the State of Chu had a master archer, whose name was Yang Youji. In his youth, this man surpassed others in strength and courage, and successfully trained his archery skill to an insurpassable level. At that time there was a warrior named Pan Dang (潘黨) who was also adept at archery. One day, both men were present in the field during an archery competition, with many others gathered around to watch.
The target, which consisted of a board with a red circle, was placed fifty steps away. Pan Dang drew his heavy bow and hit the target in three successive shots, gaining great cheers from the onlookers. Immensely pleased with himself, Pan Dang faced Yang Youji and gave obeisance, indicating his wish to see Yang Youji deliver a better performance.
Yang Youji looked in four directions and said: “To hit the bull’s eye at fifty steps, that target is too close, way too close! Better yet let us hit a willow leaf at a distance of one hundred steps!” Once said, he pointed to a willow tree at about one hundred steps away, then called for men to choose a leaf and painted it red as the target. Next, he drew his bow, a sound “suo” came from his shot [released arrow], and it just so happened that the arrow pierced through the willow leaf’s center as a result.
The spectators were mind-blown, Pan Dang knew he did not possess such skills, but he was also in disbelief that Yang Youji could hit a willow leaf in shot after shot. So he went to that willow tree and selected three willow leaves, then numbered them with color and asked Yang Youji to shoot at each in the order that was marked. Yang Youji walked so-and-so steps forward, looked at the written order clearly, then retreated to beyond one hundred steps, drew his bow, and let fly “sou”, “sou”, “sou” three arrows, each hitting a willow leaf with numbered mark on it.
There were thunderous cheers this time around, and Pan Dang was truly convinced. During this ovation, a man standing by Yang Youji’s side coldly said to him: “You have the ability to shoot through willow leaves in one hundred steps, that is only enough to teach archery!” Upon hearing the condescending tone in the man’s remark, Yang Youji couldn’t help but turned around and questioned him angrily: “How then are you going to teach archery to me?”
The man calmed him down and said: “I haven’t come to show you how to draw bows and shoot arrows, but to remind you of how to maintain your archery reputation. Have you not thought about when your strength runs out and your arrow does not hit its target, then your reputation of ‘one hundred hits in one hundred tries’ will get affected. A master of archery must pay attention to maintaining his reputation!” Yang Youji listened to these words and felt that they made a lot of sense. He again faced the man and thanked him repeatedly.
The messenger sent out by the King of Zhou recounted the story to Bai Qi. After Bai Qi heard this, he thought about maintaining his reputation for winning (lit. one hundred battles, one hundred victories) by not engaging in battles easily. Thus he used illness as an excuse to cease his attack on the State of Wei.
This story also leads to another idiom, namely “One hundred hits in one hundred tries.”
—– VOCABULARY —–
善 shàn – good (virtuous); benevolent; well-disposed; good at sth; to improve or perfect [[thiện: việc tốt, việc lành; người có đức hạnh; giao hảo, thân thiết; cho là hay, khen; thích]]
技藝 jì yì – skill; art [[kĩ nghệ]]
引申 yǐn shēn – to extend (the meaning of a word, an analogy etc); derivation
申 shēn – to extend; to state; to explain; 9th early branch: 3-5pm, 7th solar month, year of the Monkey; ancient Chinese compass point: 240deg [[thân: trình bày, bày tỏ, thuật lại; duỗi; Thân]]
厲 lì – strict; severe [[lệ: nghiêm, nghiêm khắc, nghiêm trang; mạnh dữ, mãnh liệt; xấu, ác, bạo ngược; bệnh tật, tai họa; mài]]
獲悉 huò xī – to learn of sth; to find out; to get news
獲 huò – to catch; to obtain; to capture [[hoạch: được, bắt được; thu được, giành được; gặt hái (mùa màng); gặp phải, tao thụ; đày tớ, nô tì (ngày xưa)]]
悉 xī – in all cases; know [[tất: tường tận, rõ ràng, đầy đủ; đều, hết, hết thảy; tính hết, gồm tất cả; biết, rõ, hiểu]]
趕緊 gǎn jǐn – hurriedly; without delay
趕 gǎn – to overtake; to catch up with; to hurry; to rush; to try to catch (the bus etc); to drive (cattle etc) forward; to drive (sb) away; to avail oneself of (an opportunity); until [[cản: đuổi theo; xua, lùa, đánh xe (súc vật kéo); đuổi đi; làm gấp cho kịp]]
緊 jǐn – tight; strict; close at hand; near; urgent; tense; hard up; short of money; to tighten [[khẩn: cần kíp, cấp bách; quan trọng, nghiêm trọng; chặt chẽ, khít khao; túng thiếu, chật vật; căng, chặt]]
提醒 tí xǐng – to remind; to call attention to; to warn of [[đề tỉnh: nhắc nhở, cảnh báo, thức tỉnh]]
處境 chǔ jìng – situation (of a person)
境 jìng – border; place; condition; boundary; circumstances; territory [[cảnh: biên giới, cương giới; nơi, chốn, địa phương, khu vực; tình huống, tình trạng; trình độ, hạn định]]
實際 shí jì – reality; practice; practical; realistic; real; actual [[thực tế]]
管轄 guǎn xiá – to administer; to have jurisdiction (over)
轄 xiá – to govern; to control; having jurisdiction over; linchpin of a wheel (archaic); noise of a barrow [[hạt: cai quản, sửa trị; cái đinh chốt xe, cái chốt cắm ngoài đầu trục cho bánh xe không trụt ra được]]
脅 xié – flank (the side of one’s torso); to coerce; to threaten [[hiếp: sườn, ở hai bên ngực; bên cạnh; bức bách, ăn hiếp]]
勸說 quàn shuō – to persuade; persuasion; to advise [[thuyết phục, khuyên bảo]]
勸 quàn – to advise; to urge; to try to persuade; to exhort; to console; to sooth [[khuyến: khuyên bảo; mời; khích lệ]]
停止 tíng zhǐ – to stop; to halt; to cease [[đình chỉ, dừng lại]]
勇力 yǒng lì – courage and strength [[dũng lực]]
潘 pān – [[họ Phan; nước vo gạo; chỗ nước chảy tràn]]
黨 dǎng – party; association; club; society [[đảng: tổ chức hành chức ngày xưa, một khu có năm trăm nhà ở gọi là “đảng”; tổ chức bao gồm những người đồng chí; bè, nhóm, đoàn thể nhỏ; bạn bè, thân hữu, đồng bối; hùa theo, a dua, thiên tư]]
擅長 shàn cháng – to be good at; to be expert in
擅 shàn – expert in; to be good at; without authority; to usurp; to arrogate to oneself; to monopolize [[thiện: chuyên; chiếm cứ; sở trường, thạo về; tự tiện, tự ý]]
許多 xǔ duō – many; a lot of; much
圍 wéi – to encircle, to surround, all around, to wear by wrapping around (scarf, shawl) [[vi: bao vây, vây chận; bao quanh; phòng thủ; vòng bao bọc chung quanh; màn che chung quanh]]
靶 bǎ – target; mark [[bá: cái đích để bắn, mục tiêu, bia; dây cương ngựa làm bằng da; chuôi, cán]]
設 shè – to set up; to arrange; to establish; to found; to display [[thiết: sắp bày, đặt bày; thành lập, sáng lập; ví thử, nếu, giả sử]]
撐 chēng – to support; to prop up; to push or move with a pole; to maintain; to open or unfurl; to fill to bursting point; brace; stay; support [[sanh: chống giữ, chống đỡ; dùng sào đẩy thuyền đi tới; mở rộng, căng ra, giương lên; no, đầy]]
拉開 lā kāi – to pull open; to pull apart; to space out; to increase
一連 yī lián – in a row; in succession; running
正中 zhèng zhōng – middle; center; right in the middle or center; nub
博得 bó dé – to win; to gain
博 bó – extensive; ample; rich; obtain; aim; to win; to get; plentiful; to gamble [[bác: rộng, lớn, nhiều, phong phú; thông suốt, sâu rộng (kiến thức); đánh bạc; lấy, đổi lấy, giành được]]
喝采 hè cǎi – acclaim; cheer [[hoan hô, hoan nghênh]]
洋洋 yáng yáng – vast; impressive; self-satisfied; immensely pleased with oneself
洋 yáng – ocean; vast; foreign; silver dollar or coin [[dương: ngày xưa chỉ trung tâm của biển; nay chỉ biển lớn trên mặt địa cầu; tục gọi tiền là “dương”; đông, nhiều; rộng lớn, thịnh đại; của ngoại quốc, thuộc về nước ngoài]]
拱 gǒng – to cup one’s hands in salute; to surround; to arch; to dig earth with the snout; arched [[củng: chắp tay (tỏ ý cung kính); vây quanh, nhiễu quanh; khom, gù, uốn cong (phần trên hay trước của thân thể); trổ, đâm ra, nhú ra; đùn, đẩy ra, thôi thúc; có hình vòng cung]]
拱手 gǒng shǒu – to cup one’s hands in obeisance or greeting; fig. submissive
環 huán – to surround; to encircle; to hem in; ring; hoop; loop; (chain) link; classifier for scores in archery etc. [[hoàn: cái vòng ngọc; vòng, khoen, vật hình vòng tròn; phần thiết yếu, then chốt; vây quanh, bao quanh; bốn phía, ở chung quanh]]
四周 sì zhōu – all around
還是 hái shi – or; still; nevertheless; had better
罷 bà – to stop; to cease; to dismiss; to suspend; to quit; to finish [[bãi: nghỉ, thôi; cách, bỏ, phế trừ; hết, chấm dứt; xong, rồi; thôi, nhé, …]]
棵 kē – classifier for trees, cabbages, plants etc [[khỏa: lượng từ – cây, gốc, ngọn]]
選 xuǎn – to choose; to pick; to select; to elect [[tuyển: chọn, lựa; sách gồm những tác phẩm chọn lọc]]
塗 tú – to apply (paint, etc.); to smear; to daub; to blot out; to scribble; to scrawl [[đồ: bùn; đường đi; bôi, xoa, đắp, rịt; xóa, bôi bỏ; ngăn trở, làm nghẽn, che lấp; làm bẩn, làm dơ]]
唆 suō – to suck; to incite [[toa: xúi giục, sai khiến; lải nhải, lắm lời, lôi thôi; bú, mút]]
鏈 liàn – chain; cable (unit of length: 100 fathoms, about 185 m); chain (unit of length: 66 feet, about 20 m); to chain; to enchain [[liên: dây xích, dây chuyền]]
正好 zhèng hǎo – just (in time); just right; just enough; to happen to; to chance to; by chance; it just so happens that
貫穿 guàn chuān – to run through; a connecting thread from beginning to end; to link
貫 guàn – to pierce through; to pass through; to be stringed together; string of 1000 cash [[quán: dây xâu tiền thời xưa; lượng từ – một ngàn tiền gọi là “nhất quán”; nguyên tịch, chỗ ở đã nhiều đời; thông, suốt; nối nhau, liên tiếp, liên tục]]
呆 dāi – foolish; stupid; expressionless; blank; to stay [[ngai: ngu xuẩn, đần độn; không linh lợi, thiếu linh mẫn; ngây dại, ngẩn ra]]
選擇 xuǎn zé – to select; to pick; choice; opinion; alternative
擇 zé – to select; to choose; to pick over; to pick out; to differentiate; to eliminate [[trạch: chọn, lựa; phân biệt, khác biệt]]
編 biān – to write; to compose; to fabricate [[biên: sáng tác; đặt chuyện, thêu dệt, bịa đặt; soạn, thu thập góp nhặt để viết thành sách; sắp, xếp, sắp theo thứ tự]]
次序 cì xù – sequence, order
序 xù – order; sequence; preface [[tự: thứ tự; chỉ quan tước phẩm vị; chỉ trường học thời xưa]]
旁 páng – beside; one side; other; side; self [[bàng: bên cạnh; giúp đỡ, phò tá]]
冷冷 lěng lěng – coldly
喂 wèi – to feed [[uy: tiếng gọi – ê, này, ơi, allo (dùng cho điện thoại); nuôi, cho ăn]]
揚 yáng – to raise; to hoist; the action of tossing or winnowing; scattering (in the wind); to flutter; to propagate [[dương: giơ lên, bốc lên; phô bày; khen, xưng tụng; truyền bá, lan ra; vênh vang, đắc ý]]
不禁 bù jīn – can’t help (doing sth); can’t refrain from
平靜 píng jìng – tranquil; undisturbed; serene
靜 jìng – still; calm; quiet; not moving [[tĩnh: giữ yên lặng, an định; yên, không cử động; lặng, không tiếng động; điềm đạm]]
彎 wān – to bend; bent; a bend; a turn (in the road etc) [[loan: giương cung; uốn cong, khom; đỗ, đậu, ngừng ở bến; cong, ngoằn ngoèo; khúc quanh, chỗ quanh co]]
保持 bǎo chí – to keep; to maintain; to hold; to preserve [[bảo trì, giữ nguyên]]
一旦 yī dàn – in case (sth happens) [[một khi (giả sử), nếu như, đến khi mà]]
影響 yǐng xiǎng – influence; effect; to influence; to affect (usually adversely); to disturb [[ảnh hưởng; tác dụng; chi phối]]
應當 yīng dāng – should; ought to [[nên, phải, cần thiết]]
注意 zhù yì – to take note of; to pay attention to [[chú ý, để ý, chú tâm]]
注 zhù – to inject; to pour into; to concentrate; to pay attention [[chú: rót, đổ, trút; tập trung tâm ý vào, chăm vào]]
番 fān – foreign (non-Chinese); barbarian; classifier for occurrences (of an event, action, or speech utterance); classifier for iterations: times, -fold (as in twofold etc); classifier for situations: kind, sort
道謝 dào xiè – to express thanks
不能 bù néng – cannot; must not; should not [[không thể]]
輕易 qīng yì – easily; lightly; rashly
借口 jiè kǒu – to use as an excuse; on the pretext; excuse; pretext
借 jiè – to lend; to borrow; by means of; to take (an opportunity) [[tá: vay, mượn; cho vay, cho mượn; giả thác, lợi dụng; giúp đỡ; khen ngợi; dựa vào, nhờ; giả sử, giả thiết, nếu như]]
另 lìng – other, another, separate, separately [[lánh: riêng, khác]]