異軍突起 (Yì jūn tū qǐ)
To emerge as a new force to be reckoned with
From link.
Source: Western Han – Sima Qian – Records of the Grand Historian – Biography of Xiang Yu
These young men wanted to establish Ying as their leader, with them wearing deep-green headbands to distinguish themselves from the other factions.
少年欲立嬰便為王，異軍蒼頭特起。（西漢·司馬遷《史記·項羽本紀》）
In the last years of the Qin Dynasty, the Second Emperor of Qin was licentious and despotic, which resulted in the common people openly voicing their discontent. Chen Sheng, Wu Guang were the first to rise up, with rebel armies from all over the country responded to their call to arms. This was the beginning of the peasant uprising at the end of the Qin Dynasty.
In Dongyang County (東陽縣) there was a man named Chen Ying (陳嬰) who had once served as the county magistrate. He was just and fair in his daily work, treated others with kindness, and was [known as an] honest and trustworthy person [to all]. The local youths admired him and regarded him as their role model and leader: they considered knowing and befriending Chen Ying as something to be proud of. Being influenced by the turbulent development of rebellions at the time, these young people killed the Magistrate of Dongyang in a gathering, raised the rebel flag against the Qin Empire, and quickly gathered some three to four thousand people under their camp. However, these young men had little [to no] social experience and were lacking in leadership skill. The longer time passed by, the more they realized that they could not command these three, four thousand people, and so they gathered to discuss and select a highly respected person to be their leader. In the end, they all agreed that Chen Ying, who had once been a county magistrate, was the most suitable for the position.
Chen Ying was also against the tyranny of the Qin government, so he had long resigned from his post and not served as a Qin’s official. Following the young men’s enthusiastic encouragement, Chen Ying agreed to serve as their leader. Under Chen Ying’s leadership, the force soon grew to about 30,000 men. These young men then discussed the possibility of making Chen Ying their lord, and they all put deep-green headbands on their heads and called themselves the green-headed army. People all said that this green-headed army had such a great reputation and grew so fast that it seemed as if it had sprung up out of nowhere. The generals of the green-headed army were ready to make Chen Ying their lord, and Chen Ying was about to agree to the people’s wishes when his mother came forth and implored him to carefully think about his decision. Chen Ying’s mother said to him: “Since the time I was married into the Chen family, I have not heard any of your ancestors becoming high-ranking officials or people of great importance. If you are to suddenly become the leader of more than thirty thousand men today, then this cannot be a good thing. If you are to take these men and submit to more powerful rebel leaders: if the uprising is to succeed in the future then you will be enfeoffed as a marquis or granted a position of general. Otherwise if the uprising is to fizzle out then no one will place the blame on you.” Chen Ying’s mother was a wise woman, even when she did not travel beyond the four walls of her home yet she could still see all worldly matters clearly. Chen Ying has always been filial to his mother and held her in high regards, so after he heard her words, he dared not proclaimed himself lord and instead said to his followers: “I am an uneducated man of few talents. I come from a humble background without any reputation of note, so it is unworthy of me to establish myself as a lord. However, the rebel leader Xiang Liang, a descendant of the general Xiang Yan of Chu, is well-known amongst the people. Moreover, judging from today’s circumstances, he will definitely be the one who has the strength to lead troops to overturn the Qin’s government in the future. This is why I have decided to take everyone to join him. What do you all think of this?” Hearing what Chen Ying proposed was sound, the men all followed his advice. At the time, Xiang Liang was leading his troops in crossing the river, so Chen Ying led his men to submit to him.
—– VOCABULARY —–
嬰 yīng – infant; baby [[anh: trẻ sơ sinh; vòng quanh, vấn vít; trói buộc, ràng buộc; mang, đeo; xúc phạm, đụng chạm đến]]
蒼 cāng – dark blue; deep green; ash-gray [[thương: màu cỏ, màu xanh thẫm; trời; xanh; bạc, trắng (đầu, tóc); già]]
怨聲載道 yuàn shēng zài dào – lit. cries of complaint fill the roads (idiom); complaints rise all around; discontent is openly voiced
怨 yuàn – to blame; to complain [[oán: giận, trách hận, thống hận; thù hận, kẻ thù]]
載 zǎi – to record in writing; to carry (i.e. publish in a newspaper etc); year
zài – to carry; to convey; to load; to hold; to fill up; and; also; as well as; simultaneously [[tái: ngồi trên, đi bằng; chở, chuyên chở, chuyển vận; ghi chép; đầy dẫy; nâng đỡ; trước; thành, nên; thời; vừa, lại; tại: đồ vật chở trên xe hoặc thuyền; tải: lượng từ – đơn vị thời gian bằng một năm]]
率先 shuài xiān – to take the lead; to show initiative
揭 jiē – to take the lid off; to expose; to unmask [[yết: giơ cao, dựng lên, như “yết can khởi sự” 揭竿起事 dựng cờ nổi lên; tỏ lộ, phơi ra, vạch ra; mở, kéo, lôi; bóc, cất, lấy đi; gánh, vác; tiêu biểu, mẫu mực; khế: xăn áo, vén áo]]
竿 gān – pole [[sào, cây tre, cần tre; phong thư; sào (đơn vị chiều dài ngày xưa); cán: cái giá mắc áo]]
紛紛 fēn fēn – one after another; in succession; one by one; continuously; diverse; in profusion; numerous and confused; pell-mell
紛 fēn – numerous; confused; disorderly [[phân: tranh chấp; quấy rầy, nhiễu loạn; nhiều, đông]]
波瀾壯闊 bō lán zhuàng kuò – surging forward with great momentum; unfolding on a magnificent scale
瀾 lán – swelling water [[lan: sóng lớn; nước vo gạo]]
闊 kuò – rich; wide; broad [[khoát: rộng, lớn; hào phóng, rộng rãi; viển vông, không thiết thật; giàu có, sang trọng; thưa, ít, sơ sài, không kĩ lưỡng, thiếu tinh mật; chiều rộng; hành vi xa xỉ; khoan hoãn; li biệt]]
帷幕 wéi mù – heavy curtain
帷 wéi – curtain; screen [[duy: màn che, trướng]]
幕 mù – curtain or screen; canopy or tent; headquarters of a general; act (of a play) [[mạc: màn; vải để che; lều, bạt, trướng bồng; sự vật gì che phủ như tấm màn; phiếm chỉ sở quan, chỗ làm việc hành chánh (ngày xưa); chỉ những người làm việc về văn thư ở “mạc phủ”; đặc chỉ màn ảnh (chiếu bóng, võ đài…); áo giáp; một loại khăn che đầu ngày xưa; hồi, màn (phân đoạn trong kịch); sa mạc; che phủ; trùm lấp; mán: mặt trái đồng tiền; mô: màng (lớp mỏng phân thành tổ chức bên trong cơ thể động hay thực vật)]]
寬 kuān – lenient; wide; broad [[khoan: rộng, lớn; độ lượng, không nghiêm khắc; ung dung, thư thái; thừa thãi, dư dả, sung túc; bề rộng, chiều rộng; cởi, nới; kéo dài, nới rộng, thả lỏng; khoan dung, tha thứ]]
欽佩 qīn pèi – to admire; to look up to; to respect sb greatly
佩 pèi – to respect; to wear (belt etc); girdle ornaments [[bội: vật đeo trên dải lưng để trang sức (thời xưa); đeo; cầm, giữ; khâm bội, kính ngưỡng; vòng quanh, vây quanh]]
楷模 kǎi mó – model; example
楷 kǎi – model; pattern; regular script (calligraphic style) [[giai: cây “giai”, còn gọi là “hoàng liên hoa” 黃連花; cương trực; khải: khuôn phép, kiểu mẫu; chữ chân, chữ viết ngay ngắn rõ ràng gọi là “khải thư” 楷書; ngay ngắn, đúng phép tắc]]
模 mó – to imitate; model; norm; pattern [[mô: khuôn mẫu; “mô dạng” 模樣 hình dạng, dáng điệu; bắt chước, phỏng theo; không rõ ràng]]
足以 zú yǐ – sufficient to…; so much so that; so that
風起雲湧 fēng qǐ yún yǒng – lit. rising winds, scudding clouds (idiom); turbulent times; violent development
湧 yǒng – to bubble up; to rush forth [[dũng: nước vọt ra, tuôn ra, trào dâng; vọt lên, tăng vọt, vụt hiện ra]]
風潮 fēng cháo – tempest; wave (of popular sentiment etc); craze or fad [[phong trào]]
潮 cháo – tide; current; damp; moist; humid [[triều: con nước, thủy triều; trào lưu, phong trào (hình thế bùng lên như thủy triều); ẩm, ướt; thấp, kém]]
扯 chě – to pull; to tear; (of cloth, thread etc) to buy; to chat; to gossip; ridiculous; hokey [[xả: xé, bóc ra; níu, lôi, kéo; rút, nhổ; giương lên; nói chuyện phiếm, tán gẫu]]
欠缺 qiàn quē – to be deficient in; lapse; deficiency [[khiếm khuyết, thiếu sót]]
擴展 kuò zhǎn – to extend; to expand; extension; expansion [[trải rộng, dàn ra, nới rộng ra]]
擴 kuò – enlarge [[khoách: mở rộng; ta quen đọc là “khoáng”]]
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; tiêm nhiễm; thăm]]
巾 jīn – towel; general purpose cloth; women’s headcovering (old) [[cân: khăn; mũ bịt đầu]]
浩大 hào dà – vast; great; large amount
浩 hào – grand; vast (water) [[hạo: mênh mông, bao la (thế nước); nhiều; chính đại]]
迅速 xùn sù – rapid; speedy; fast
冒 mào – to emit; to give off; to send out (or up, forth); to brave; to face; reckless; to falsely adopt (sb’s identity etc); to feign; (literary) to cover [[mạo: bốc lên, đổ ra; xông pha, bất chấp, làm mà không e sợ; giả xưng, giả làm; bừa, liều, lỗ mãng]]
情面 qíng miàn – feelings and sensibilities; sentiment and face; sensitivity to other’s feelings
明智 míng zhì – sensible; wise; judicious; sagacious [[sáng suốt, tỉnh táo, minh mẫn]]
才疏學淺 cái shū xué qiǎn – (humble expr.) of humble talent and shallow learning (idiom); pray forgive my ignorance, … [[bất tài, kém cỏi]]
投奔 tóu bēn – to seek shelter; to seek asylum [[tìm chỗ trú, tìm chỗ náu]]