13
The wise win before they fight, while the ignorant fight to win.
-- Zhuge Liang
Thirteenth Stratagem
打草惊蛇
(dá cǎo jīng shé)
Beat the Grass to Startle the Snake
During the Tang Dynasty, in present-day Anhui Province, there was an unpopular magistrate called Wang Lu whose bookkeeper received a letter from the local people accusing him of corruption. It is said that Wang Lu wrote on the letter 'by merely beating the grass, you have startled the snake within'. This might have been his acknowledgment of a ploy, to show he was ready to fight back. Or, perhaps it meant that the strategy had worked as a warning to him that his corruption would not be tolerated.
Beat the Grass to Startle the Snake is associated with the 24th hexagram, Earth over Mountain. The weak lines have pushed the strong lines out of hexagram, and a new strong line appears. It is subtle, not drawing attention, waiting to gather more strong lines to itself before moving forward to strike [1], [28].
VOCAB LIST 13:
to change: 改变/变化: gǎibiàn/biànhuà
to lose (e.g. to lose one’s keys): 丢/弄丢:
diū/nòng diū
police: 警察: jǐngchá
government: 政府: zhèngfǔ
friend: 朋友: péngyǒu
education/culture: 文化: wénhuà
grass: 草: cǎo
society: 社会: shèhuì
economy: 经济: jīngjì
history: 历史: lìshǐ
politics: 政治: zhèngzhì
to startle: 惊动: jīngdòng
insect/bug: 虫子: chóngzi
nice (friendly): 友好: yǒuhǎo
to oppose/against: 反对: fǎnduì
to happen/occur: 发生: fāshēng
several/how many?: 几个/几个？: jǐ gè/jǐ gè?
like (similar): 好像/像: hǎoxiàng/xiàng
to earn (e.g. money): 赚钱: zhuànqián
to spend (e.g. money): 花: huā
snake: 蛇: shé
to fall/drop: 掉: diào
to be used to/habit: 习惯: xíguàn
subject: 专业: zhuānyè
(once) again: 再...一次/又: zài yīcì/yòu
so...: 所以...: suǒyǐ
city: 城市: chéngshì
immigrant (outsider): 外地人/外国人: wàidì rén/wàiguó rén
New Characters:
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
Sample Sentences 13:
1) 老师改变了上课时间。
Trans.: The teacher changed the time of class.
2) 我们改变了见面时间，新的安排是五点。
Trans.: We changed the time of the meeting; the new plan is to meet at five o’clock.
3) 你为什么改变了头发的颜色？
4) 我好久没有来这里了，变化很大。
5) 别把这本书弄丢了，这是我最喜欢的一本。
6) 学校里的草地很漂亮。
7) 她很害怕蛇。
8) 那个玻璃杯从桌子上掉下来了。
9) 别开得那么快，这个地方有很多警察。
10) 那座楼是政府的，他们不会给你在那停车。
11) 我有几个朋友是经济学家。
12) 经济现在很不好，我不想多花钱。
13) 在这里，没文化的人赚的钱最多。
15) 政治很无聊，我最喜欢看历史的书。
16) 这个房子很老，所以虫子很多。
17) 我不喜欢他们，他们不友好。
18) 那个响声惊动了森林里的小动物。
19) 我们有安排去海边。
20) 我习惯不了这里的天气。
21) 在中国的文化里，你不可以反对你的老板。
22) 发生了什么？他看起来很不好。
23) 他的电脑看起来和我的很像。
24) 你又忘带雨伞了。
25) 我忘记买牛奶了，我还要再去一次超市。
No comments:
Post a Comment