一問三不知 (Yī wèn sān bù zhī)
(1) lit. to reply “don’t know” whatever the question (idiom)
(2) fig. absolutely no idea of what’s going on
(3) complete ignorance from beginning to end
From link.
Source: Wenzi (文子) said: “When a gentleman plans something, he considers its beginning, progress, and end, and only then will he act. Today I know none of the three and yet I choose to act, isn’t that unwise?” (Zuo Zhuan – Duke Ai of Lu – 27th year – 左傳·魯哀公二十七年)
In 468 B.C., Xun Yao (荀瑤) from the State of Jin led troops to attack the State of Zheng. Zheng was a powerful state in the early Spring and Autumn Period, but gradually degraded into a small and weak vassal state by this time. The sovereign of Zheng could not hold back the Jin army’s attack, so he sent Prince Ban (公子般) to Qi to request help.
When Prince Ban arrived at Qi, he explained to the Qi’s ruler that Jin would threaten Qi if it was to annex Zheng, so he implored Qi to send troops to aid Zheng. Duke Ping of Qi felt that what Prince Ban said was sound. Besides, he couldn’t tolerate Jin to annex Zheng and become even more powerful, which would pose as a threat to Qi, so he sent the official Chen Chengzi (陳成子) to lead Qi’s troops to assist Zheng. It was raining hard when Chen Chengzi led his troops to the bank of the Zi river (淄水河岸), and his soldiers were reluctant to cross the river in the rain. The guide from Zheng knew full well that if Qi troops were to not advance quickly, Zheng’s capital might be in great danger. As such, he urged Chen Chengzi to cross as soon as possible. Chen Chengzi also knew the urgency of the situation so he gave orders for his troops to cross the river.
Draped over by a rain cloth and leaning on his spear, Chen Chengzi stood anxiously on the hillside directing the Qi army to cross the river. The war horses neighed frightfully upon seeing the torrential water so he whipped them hard with his whip and forced them to cross. After some efforts, the entire Qi army safely cross the Zi river and prepared themselves in the upcoming fight against Jin troops.
The commander-in-chief of the Jin army, Xun Yao, was very surprised upon seeing the reinforcement troops from Qi, as he did not expect the State of Qi to send troops to fight against Jin. When he observed the Qi army was in orderly formation, he became a little uneasy and said to his subordinates: “Their troops stand in such orderly formation that I fear we won’t be able to defeat them. It’d be better if we withdraw our troops now.” So on the one hand Xun Yao ordered his troops to retreat, on the other hand he sent an envoy to the camp of the Qi army to see Chen Chengzi, hoping that his envoy could drive a wedge in the relationship between Chen Chengzi and the State of Zheng. However, Chen Chengzi did not believe in what the envoy said and sent him away.
After the Qi envoy left, there was a man called Xun Yin (荀寅) who said to Chen Chengzi: “There was someone from the Jin army who came and told me that Jin planned to send a thousand war chariots to carry out a sneak attack on our camp so as to destroy our entire army.” When Chen Chengzi heard this, he scolded Xun Yin: “Before setting out, our king had given me the orders – ‘Don’t chase after scattered enemy soldiers, don’t fear large number of enemy troops.’ Even if the Jin army dispatches more than one thousand war chariots, I cannot avoid waging battle against them. I’m surprised that you spoke highly of our enemy and dampened our own morale. After we return to Qi, I will surely report your words to our Duke.”
Xun Yin knew he had misspoken so he lamented and said: “Ai, when a gentleman (junzi, 君子) seeks to do something, he must carefully think about its origin, what it will go through, and its ending result before reporting it to his superior. Yet I have just now expressed my thoughts without having a clear understanding of these three aspects [of a matter], how then can I not hit a wall? No wonder I was never trusted and have to go into exile alone. And all of this happened because I did not fully understand the true nature of this.…”
[After this,] Jin withdrew its army a few days later and Chen Chengzi also led his troops back to Qi.
—– VOCABULARY —–
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]]
焉 yān – where, how [[yên: chỉ thị đại danh từ – đó, ở đó, vào đó; nghi vấn đại danh từ – ở đâu, nơi nào; sao mà, há; mới, thì mới (biểu thị hậu quả); từ ngữ khí, đặt cuối câu – (1) biểu thị khẳng định, (2) biểu thị nghi vấn, (3) biểu thị cảm thán; đặt sau hình dung từ hay phó từ – biểu thị trạng thái]]
哀 āi – sorrow; grief; pity; to grieve for; to pity; to lament; to condole [[ai: thương, lân mẫn; thương xót; buồn bã; thương tiếc; mất mẹ]]
荀 xún – herb (old) [[tuân: tên một nước đời Chu, nay ở vào tỉnh Sơn Tây; cỏ “tuân”, theo “Sơn Hải Kinh” 山海經, phụ nữ dùng cỏ này sẽ thành người đẹp]]
瑤 yáo – jade; precious stone; mother-of-pearl; nacre; precious; used a complementary honorific [[dao: ngọc dao, một thứ ngọc đẹp; làm bằng ngọc, dát ngọc; quý báu, tốt đẹp; sáng sủa, tinh sạch]]
抵擋 dǐ dǎng – to resist; to hold back; to stop; to ward off; to withstand
抵 dǐ – to press against; to support; to prop up; to resist; to equal; to balance; to make up for; to mortgage; to arrive at; to clap (one’s hands) lightly (expressing delight) [[để: chắn, chặn; mạo phạm, xúc phạm; chống cự; đáng, ngang bằng; đến; quẳng, ném; đại khái; chỉ: vỗ, đập nhẹ]]
擋 dǎng – to resist; to obstruct; to hinder; to keep off; to block (a blow); to get in the way of; cover; gear (e.g. in a car’s transmission) [[đáng: che, lấp; ngăn, cản, chận; chống cự, cưỡng lại; lỗ hổng, khe hở; kè, đập ngăn giữ nước]]
般 bān – sort; kind; class; way; manner [[bàn: quanh co, quấn quýt; tải đi; vui, thích; lớn; ban: đem về, trở lại; bực, loại, hàng, lớp, kiểu; giống như, đồng dạng]]
吞併 tūn bìng – to annex [[thôn tính, chiếm giữ, sáp nhập]]
併 bìng – to combine; to amalgamate [[tính: hợp lại, gom lại, gộp lại làm một; bỏ, bài trừ; liều mạng; đều, cùng]]
祈求 qí qiú – to pray for; to appeal
祈 qí – to implore; to pray; to request [[kì: cầu cúng, cầu phúc; thỉnh cầu; báo đền]]
況且 kuàng qiě – moreover; besides; in addition; furthermore
容忍 róng rěn – to put up with; to tolerate
構成 gòu chéng – to constitute; to form; to compose; to make up; to configure (computing)
構 gòu – to construct; to form; to make up; to compose; literary composition; paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) [[cấu: dựng nhà, cất nhà; dựng lên, kiến lập; gây nên, tạo thành; vận dụng, xếp đặt, sáng tác (thi văn); mưu tính, đồ mưu; hãm hại, vu hãm; châm chọc, phân chia, li gián; nhà, kiến trúc; cơ nghiệp, nghiệp tích; tác phẩm (văn học nghệ thuật); cấu trúc, cấu tạo; tân cây tức là “chử” 楮 cây dó, dùng làm giấy]]
淄 zī – black; name of a river [[tri: tên sông, tức “Tri thủy” 淄水 thuộc tỉnh Sơn Đông, Trung Quốc; đen (màu); điếm nhục, ô nhiễm, làm cho mang tiếng xấu]]
嚮導 xiàng dǎo – guide [[hướng đạo, chỉ dẫn, hướng dẫn, chỉ bảo]]
抓緊 zhuā jǐn – to grasp firmly; to pay special attention to; to rush in; to make the most of [[túm chặt, giữ chắc]]
披 pī – to drape over one’s shoulders; to open; to unroll; to split open; to spread out [[phi: vạch ra, phơi bày; mở, lật; nứt ra, tét ra, toác ra; chia rẽ, phân tán, rũ ra; khoác, choàng]]
篷 péng – sail [[bồng: mui (đan bằng phên, tre, vải dầu để che chắn); buồm; phiếm chỉ thuyền]]
拄 zhǔ – to lean on; to prop on [[trụ: chống đỡ; châm biếm, chế giễu, chê bai]]
焦急 jiāo jí – anxiety; anxious
焦 jiāo – burnt; scorched; charred; worried; anxious; coke [[tiêu: bị cháy, bị sém lửa; vàng gần như đen (màu sắc); khô, giòn; cong queo, nhăn nheo; cháy khét, cháy đen; cơm cháy; bộ vị trong thân thể người ta (Trung y); tên nước thời cổ, nay ở vào khoảng tỉnh “Hà Nam” 河南]]
滔滔 tāo tāo – torrential [[chảy cuồn cuộn]]
滔 tāo – overflow; torrent-dash [[thao: ngập, tràn đầy; nhờn, coi thường, khinh mạn]]
嚇 hè – to scare; to intimidate; to threaten; (interjection showing disapproval) tut-tut; (interjection showing astonishment)
xià – to frighten; to scare [[hách: dọa nạt; hoảng sợ, kinh hãi; biểu thị kinh hãi hay trầm trồ (khen ngợi); biểu thị không vừa lòng hoặc nghi vấn]]
嘶 sī – hiss; neigh; Ss! (sound of air sucked between the teeth, indicating hesitation or thinking over) [[tê: (ngựa) hí; khản (tiếng); đau thương, u uất (âm thanh)]]
狠 hěn – ruthless; fierce; ferocious; determined; to harden (one’s heart) [[ngận: hung ác, tàn nhẫn; nén lòng, buộc lòng, đành lòng; kiên quyết, cực lực, ra sức; rất, lắm]]
抽 chōu – to draw out; to pull out from in between; to remove part of the whole; (of certain plants) to sprout or bud; to whip or thrash [[trừu: rút ra; đưa, dẫn; kéo dài; hút, bơm; quật, vụt; nẩy ra, nhú ra; trích lấy, bỏ ra, lấy một phần trong cả bộ; co, co rút; tuôn ra, trào ra; nhổ, trừ bỏ]]
硬 yìng – hard; stiff; strong; firm; resolutely; doggedly; good (quality); able (person) [[ngạnh: cứng, dắn, đối lại với “nhuyễn” 軟 mềm; cứng cỏi, cương kiện; bướng bỉnh, ương ngạnh; không lưu loát, thiếu tự nhiên, trúc trắc; tốt, giỏi, luyện; miễn cưỡng, gượng, ép]]
排列 pái liè – to arrange in order; (math.) permutation [[xếp đặt, sắp xếp, bày ra thành hàng]]
撤兵 chè bīng – to withdraw troops; to retreat
撤 chè – to remove; to take away; to withdraw [[triệt: bỏ đi, trừ đi, cất đi]]
寅 yín – 3rd early branch: 3-5 a.m., 1st solar month (4th February – 5th March), year of the Tiger; ancient Chinese coompass point – 60 degrees [[Dần: chi “Dần” 寅, chi thứ ba trong mười hai địa chi 地支; từ ba giờ sáng đến năm giờ sáng là giờ “Dần”; nói tắt của “đồng dần” 同寅, nghĩa là đồng liêu, cùng làm quan với nhau; cung kính]]
零星 líng xīng – fragmentary; random; bits and pieces; sporadic
零 líng – zero; nought; zero sign; fractional; fragmentary; odd (of numbers); (placed between two numbers to indicate a smaller quantity followed by a larger one); fraction; (in mathematics) remainder (after division); extra; to wither and fall; to wither [[linh: mưa lác đác, mưa rây; số không; rơi xuống, giáng; số lẻ, số dư ra; lác đác, thưa thớt (rơi xuống); lẻ, vụn vặt]]
大批 dà pī – large quantities of
方才 fāng cái – just now; then
唉 āi – interjection or grunt of agreement or recognition (e.g. yes, it’s me!); to sigh [[ai: biểu thị thương cảm hoặc luyến tiếc – ôi, chao ôi, v.v.; biểu thị đáp ứng – vâng, dạ, ừ, v.v.; cáo giới, răn dạy]]
碰壁 pèng bì – to hit a wall; fig. to run up against a snag
碰 pèng – to touch; to meet with; to bump [[bính: va, chạm, đụng, cụng, chọi; gặp (bất ngờ); thử; gây ra, rước lấy; xúc phạm]]
壁 bì – wall; rampart [[bích: bức vách; sườn núi dốc; sao “Bích”; lũy đắp trong trại quân]]
隻身 zhī shēn – alone; by oneself