大材小用 (Dà cái xiǎo yòng)
(1) using a talented person in an insignificant position
(2) a sledgehammer to crack a nut
Source: Song Dynasty – in Lu You‘s poem ‘Composed in the morning of sending Xin You’an (e.g. Xin Qiji) away to the imperial court’ (送辛幼安殿撰造朝):
Great talent yet being utilized inappropriately [e.g. underutilized] has been lamented since old times; [much] like Guan Zhong, Xiao He before him, [his talent] is of their caliber.
Explanation: This is a metaphor for the inappropriate [or lack of] use of talents.
Story: The father of Southern Song‘s famous patriotic poet Xin Qiji passed away when he was still a child, so he was raised by his grandparent [until adulthood].
[Note: 詞 (cí) is a different poem format than 詩 (shī), where its form took after classical palace ballads, and there is not a definite length to each line in the poem. 詞 had existed from the Tang dynasty, but was made much more popular in the Song dynasty.]
Xin Qiji once studied under Liu Zhan (劉瞻), a famous idyllic poet at that time; together with Dang Huaiying (黨懷英), they were the students that Liu Zhan was most proud of. Once, Liu Zhan asked them both: “Kong Zi once asked his students to talk about their aspirations, I [, too, now] ask what you both plan to do in the future?” Dang Huaiying replied: “[I’ll] Read books to become an official, so as to gain fame and bring honors to my ancestors. I must travel to the imperial court to become a high official; and if I cannot become an official, then I’ll return home and live in seclusion, and learning from my teacher [e.g. Liu Zhan] I, too, will [focus on] writing idyllic poetry.”
Liu Zhan was extremely happy upon hearing this and repeatedly praised him, and thought his aspirations were lofty and noble. Xin Qiji, on the other hand, replied: “I don’t want to become an official, I only want to use [my] poetry to write off all the evils in the world, to use [my] sword to kill off all the evils in the world!”
Liu Zhan was shocked on hearing this and asked Xin Qiji from then onward to not say such preposterous words again. Since then, the two men, Xin and Dang, led vastly different lives: Xin Qiyi heroically joined the national war against the Jin (金) and became known as a patriotic poet; while Dang Huaiying mingled with the Jin ruling class, providing them with casual assistance and [sometime] even served as an accomplice [in anti-Song tasks].
After the Jin invaded the south, Xin Qiji organized some two-thousand men to revolt in his hometown. Later, he led these troops and sought shelter under the rebel army organized by Geng Jing (耿京), a peasant in the Jinan Prefecture. Soon afterward, the rebel army accepted the imperial court’s appointment and cooperated with the imperial army to fight the invading Jin army. However, due to being pushed aside and attacked by the capitulation faction [e.g. those who wanted to make peace with the Jin], Xin Qiji later spent a long period of quiet and peaceful living in the area around Shangrao, Jiangxi Province. In the spring of 1203, he was appointed as the prefect of Shaoxing Prefecture (紹興府知府) together with being the Protector of Peace for Zhejiang‘s Eastern Roads (浙江東路安撫使). That year, Xin Qi was already sixty four years old.
In the western suburbs of Shaoxing was a place called Sanshan (三山, lit. three mountains), where the famous patriotic poet Lu You was leading a solitary life. Lu You was older than Xin Qiji by fifteen years, and was eighty-year old at the time. His patriotic poems had long been admired by Xin Qiji, so not long after he took office, he went to pay his senior a visit and together the two men discussed national affairs late into the night. When Lu You heard Xin Qiji’s analysis of the situation, and integration of the information with envision [consideration] for the entire country, he felt that Xin was a very talented person and hoped that he would achieve success in his career.
In the spring of the following year, Emperor Ningzong of Song issued an imperial decree, inviting Xin Qiji to come to the capital Lin’an to ask him for his opinion on the Northern Expedition against the Jin Empire. Xin Qiji told Lu You about this, where Lu You thought this was Xin’s great opportunity to showcase his talent and was glad for him [that his time had arrived]. In order to encourage Xin Qiji to bring forth his best talents, Lu You specially wrote a long poem for him. In the poem was the following lines, “Xin Qiji is of the same first-class caliber as politicians and strategists in ancient time such as Guan Zhong and Xiao He, and now he serves as the Protector of Peace for Zhejiang’s Eastern Roads. This is like using great material on petty matters! As encouragement for him to strive hard to recover the Central Plain, [I ask] that he must by all means not take offense of the mistreatment in being pushed aside and lose his [noble] aspirations.” At the age of sixty-six, this patriotic hero who had always been underutilized finally died in grief and resentment.
[Note: he was sixty-five when he met Lu You, so this happened only one year later.]
—– VOCABULARY —–
陸 lù – shore; land; continent [[lục: đất cao khỏi mặt nước mà bằng phẳng; đường bộ, đường cạn; số sáu, cũng như chữ “lục” 六 dùng để viết giấy tờ quan hệ cho khỏi chữa được, ta gọi là chữ “lục” kép]]
辛 xīn – (of taste) hot or pungent; hard; laborious; suffering; eight in order]]
撰 zhuàn – to compose; to compile [[soạn: trứ thuật, sáng tác; biên tập; ý chí, lí thú; quy luật biến hóa của trời đất, âm dương]]
亞 yà – Asia; Asian; second; next to; inferior [[á: kém, thấp hơn; tương đồng, ngang nhau; che, khép; thứ hai, hạng nhì]]
棄 qì – to abandon; to relinquish; to discard; to throw away [[khí: quên, bỏ]]
疾 jí – sickness; disease; hate; envy; swift [[tật: ốm, bệnh; đau khổ, thống khổ; mắc bệnh; ganh ghét, đố kị; ưu lo; chạy nhanh, đi nhanh; nhanh, mạnh, mãnh liệt; giận dữ, chán ghét]]
撫養 fǔ yǎng – to foster; to bring up; to raise [[nuôi dưỡng; nuôi lớn]]
撫 fǔ – to comfort; to console; to stroke; to caress; an old term for province or provincial governor [[phủ: yên ủi, phủ dụ; vỗ về; cầm, tuốt, vuốt]]
拜 bài – to pay respect; worship; visit; salute [[bái: vái, lạy; thăm hỏi, gặp mặt (tiếng khách sáo); cầu chúc; trao chức, phong quan; bẻ cong]]
瞻 zhān – to gaze; to view [[chiêm: xem, ngửa mặt lên mà nhìn; ngưỡng vọng]]
黨 dǎng – party; association; club; society [[đảng: tổ chức hành chánh địa phương ngày xưa, một khu có năm trăm nhà ở gọi là “đảng”; tổ chức bao gồm nhũng người đồng chí; bè, nhóm, đoàn thể nhỏ (gồm những người vì quyền lợi kết thành); bạn bè, thân hữu, đồng bối; người thân thuộc (nội, ngoại, …); hùa theo, a dua, thiên tư; ngay thẳng]]
幹 gàn – tree trunk; main part of sth; to manage; to work; to do; capable; cadre [[cán: làm, mưu cầu; chủ yếu, chính; tài năng; cái chuôi; sự tình, sự việc; thân, mình, bộ phận chủ yếu]]
取得 qǔ dé – to acquire; to get; to obtain [[giành được, đạt được, lấy được]]
取 qǔ – to take; to get; to choose; to fetch [[thủ: lấy, cầm; chọn lấy; chuốc lấy, tìm lấy; dùng; lấy vợ; làm]]
光宗耀祖 guāng zōng yào zǔ – to bring honor to one’s ancestors
耀 yào – brilliant, glorious [[diệu: rọi sáng, chiếu sáng, chói; làm cho rạng rỡ, hiển dương; tự khoe khoang; vẻ vang, rực rỡ]]
翟 dí – long-tail pheasant [[địch: lông đuôi chim trĩ dùng để múa thời xưa]]
高潔 gāo jié – noble and clean-living; lofty and unsullied
潔 jié – clean [[khiết: sạch, trong; trong sạch, thanh liêm, đoan chính; làm cho sạch; sửa trị, tu dưỡng]]
絜 xié – marking line; pure; to regulate [[liêm: trong sạch, thanh liêm; rửa sạch; sửa sang; một âm là “hiệt”: đo lường; thẩm độ, so sánh, cân nhắc]]
卻 què – but; yet; however; while; to go back; to decline; to retreat; nevertheless; even though [[khước: từ chối, không nhận; lùi về, thối lui; rồi, mất, đưuọc; vẫn, nhưng; biểu thị phản vấn: sao, sao lại; đang; lại]]
賊 zéi – thief; traitor; wily; deceitful; evil; extremely [[tặc: hủy hoại; làm tổn hại, sát hại; kẻ trộm cướp tài vật của người; kẻ làm hại, kẻ làm loạn; loài sâu cắn hại lúa; gian trá, xảo quyệt, tinh ranh]]
大吃一驚 dà chī yī jīng – to have a surprise (idiom); shocked or startled; gobsmacked
荒唐 huāng táng – beyond belief; preposterous; absurd; intemperate; dissipated [[khoác lác, hoang đường, không có thật]]
荒 huāng – desolate; shortage; scarce; out of practice; absurd; uncultivated; to neglect [[hoang: bỏ, bỏ phế; mê đắm, chìm đắm; làm lớn ra, khuếch đại; kinh hoảng; ruộng đất chưa khai khẩn; cõi đất xa xôi; năm mất mùa, năm thu hoạch kém; tình cảnh thiếu thốn, khan hiếm trầm trọng; vật phẩm phế thải, hư hỏng; bị bỏ hoang; xa xôi, hẻo lánh, hiu quạnh]]
截然 jié rán – completely; sharply (differing) [[hoàn toàn, trọn vẹn]]
截 jié – to cut off (a length); to stop; to intercept; section; chunk; length [[tiệt: cắt đứt; ngăn, chặn; lượng từ: đoạn, khúc, quãng; rành rẽ, rõ ràng]]
投身 tóu shēn – to throw oneself into sth
混跡 hùn jì – mixed in as part of a community; hiding one’s identity; occupying a position while not deserving it
跡 jì – footprint; mark; trace; vestige; sign; indication [[tích: vết chân; ngấn, dấu vết; sự vật, công nghiệp tiền nhân lưu lại; khảo sát, tham cứu]]
幫閑 bāng xián – to hang on to and serve the rich and powerful by literary hack work etc.
閑 xián – to stay idle; to be unoccupied; not busy; leisure; enclosure [[nhàn: chuồng nuôi ngựa; chỉ phép tắc, quy phạm; hạn chế, ngăn chận, chế ngự; quen thuộc, thông thạo; thông “nhàn” 閒]]
乃至 nǎi shì, nǎi zhì – and even; to go so far as to
乃 nǎi – to be; thus; so; therefore; then; only; thereupon [[nãi: là; bèn, rồi thì, bởi vậy; nếu, như quả; mà; mới, thì mới; chỉ; thì ra, lại là; đây, này, như thế, v.v]]
組織 zǔ zhī – to organize; organization; organized system; nerve; tissue [[cùng nhau làm một việc gì]]
組 zǔ – to form; to organize; group; team; classifier for sets, series, groups of people, batteries [[tổ: dây thao (để đeo ấn tín ngày xưa); mượn chỉ chức quan; lượng từ, đơn vị vật phẩm hoặc người: bộ, nhóm, tổ; cấu thành, hợp thành]]
織 zhī – to weave; to knit [[chức: chế ra, làm thành vải lụa; dệt, đan; kết hợp, tổ thành, cấu kết; tìm kiếm; tỉ dụ qua lại chằng chịt; tỉ dụ ý nghĩ tình tự bối rối lẫn lộn]]
投奔 tóu bēn, tóu bèn – to seek shelter; to seek asylum [[tìm chỗ trú, tìm chỗ náu]]
耿 gěng – bright; honest; upright [[cảnh: sáng, sáng tỏ; chính trực, không theo hùa; đau lòng, bi thương; chiếu sáng]]
排擠 pái jǐ – to crowd out; to push aside; to supplant
排 pái – a row; a line; to set in order; to arrange; to line up; to eliminate; to drain; to push open; platoon; raft; classifier for lines, rows, etc [[bài: đẩy, gạt ra; tiêu trừ, trừ khử; ruồng bỏ, bài xích; xếp đặt, thiết trí; tập diễn; hàng; lượng từ: dãy, hàng, rặng, loạt]]
擠 jǐ – to crowd in; to cram in; to force others aside; to press; to squeeze; to find (time in one’s busy schedule) [[tễ: tụ tập đông đúc, dồn lại một chỗ; gạt, đẩy, chen, lách; bóp, nặn, vắt, vặn; chật ních, đông nghẹt]]
上饒 Shàng ráo – Shangrao prefecture level city and county in Jiangxi
紹興 Shào xīng – Shaoxing prefecture level city in Zhejiang
浙江 Zhè jiāng – Zhejiang province (Chekiang) in east China, abbr. 浙, capital Hangzhou 杭州
折 zhé – to break; to fracture; to snap; to suffer loss; to bend; to twist; to turn; to change direction; convinced [[chiết: gãy, bẻ gãy; phán đoán; uốn cong, bẻ cong; phục, bội phục; gấp, xếp; nhún; trách bị, bắt bẻ; hủy đi; chết non; tổn thất, hao tổn]]
郊 jiāo – suburbs, outskirts [[giao: ngày xưa, chỗ cách xa nước một trăm dặm. Nay gọi ngoài thành là “giao” 郊; tế “giao”, ngày đông chí tế trời ở cõi phía nam ngoài thành gọi là tế “nam giao” 南郊 hay “giao thiên” 郊天]]
景仰 jǐng yǎng – to admire; to revere; to look up to
景 jǐng – bright; circumstance; scenery [[cảnh: ánh sáng mặt trời; hình sắc đẹp đáng ngắm nhìn, thưởng ngoạn; tình huống, tình trạng; phần, đoạn trong tuồng, kịch; hâm mộ, ngưỡng mộ; to lớn]]
仰 yǎng – to face upward; to look up; to admire; to rely on [[ngưỡng: ngẩng đầu, ngửa mặt lên; hướng lên; kính mộ; dựa vào, trông cậy]]
設想 shè xiǎng – to imagine; to assume; to envisage; tentative plan; to have consideration for
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]]
征詢 zhēng xún – to consult; to query; to solicit opinion
征 zhēng – to invite; to recruit; to levy (taxes); to draft (troops); phenomenon; symptom; evidence [[chinh: đi xa; đánh, dẹp; trưng thu, lấy thuế; tranh đoạt; thuế; 徵 trưng: vời, triệu tập; chứng minh, làm chứng; thành, nên; thu, lấy; hỏi; mong tìm, cầu; điềm, triệu, dấu hiệu]]
詢 xún – to ask about; to inquire about [[tuân: tra hỏi, hỏi ý nhiều người để quyết nên chăng; tin]]
施展 shī zhǎn – to use fully; to put to use
施 shī – to grant; to give; to bestow; to act; to carry out [[thi: thực hành; làm, thêm vào; bày, đặt, dựng, thiết trí; kể công, khoe công; bêu xác; ân huệ, ân trạch]]
展 zhǎn – to spread out; to open up; to exhibit; to put into effect; to postpone; to prolong; exhibition [[triển: chuyển động; duỗi, giãn ra; mở rộng, làm cho lớn ra, khoách đại; kéo dài thời gian; thi hành, thật thi; xem xét; bày ra, trưng bày; ghi chép]]
鼓勵 gǔ lì – to encourage
勵 lì – to encourage; to urge [[lệ: gắng sức, phấn phát; khuyến khích, cổ võ]]
發揮 fā huī – to display; to exhibit; to bring out implicit or innate qualities; to express (a thought or moral); to develop (an idea); to elaborate (on a theme)
揮 huī – to wave; to brandish; to command; to conduct; to scatter; to disperse [[huy: rung động, lay động, vẫy; gạt; tan ra, mở rộng; ra lệnh, chỉ thị]]
特地 tè dì – specially; for a special purpose
實在 shí zài – really; actually; indeed; true; real; honest; dependable; (philosophy) reality [[thực tại, thực tế, ngoài đời]]
恢 huī – to restore; to recover; great [[khôi: mở rộng, làm cho lớn rộng; lấy lại được, hồi phục, thu phục; to lớn]]
復 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]]
誌 zhì – sign; mark; to record; to write a footnote [[chí: ghi nhớ; ghi chép, kí lục; ghi dấu, đánh dấu; biểu thị, bày tỏ; một thể văn kí sự; phả ghi chép sự việc]]
介意 jiè yì – to care about; to take offense; to mind [[để bụng, chấp nhặt]]
憤 fèn – indignant; anger; resentment [[phẫn: thù, hận; tức giận, uất ức]]