Chinese Idiom Stories (Volume 2): Stories from Chinese history, philosophy, culture and art of war giving you wisdom for your business, your career, your relationship, your parenting and your life!

SNEAK PEAK:

Chinese Idiom Stories Volume 2: Stories from Chinese history, philosophy, culture and art of war that can add wisdom to your business, your career, your relationship, your parenting and your life!

Table of Contents

To lure the tiger out of the mountains
To be a person with a very limited outlook
Return the Jade to Zhao In One Piece
To Concentrate
Ignorant And Incompetent
Carrying Faggots to Put Out a Fire
A Specialty
Penetrated Three Fen Into The Wood
Every bush and tree looks like an enemy
The teeth are cold when the lips are lost
Lord Ye's Love Of Dragons
Shoot Two eagles With One Arrow
Three Visits To The Thatched Cottage For Talent
Fail to build a mound for want of one final basket of earth
Allaying Hunger with Pictures of Cakes
The 10,000-Li Flying Range Of The Roc
Drawing a snake and Adding Feet
Show Off One's Proficiency With The Axe Before Lu Ban
Basking in Reflected Glory
A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string
An Old Horse Knows the Way
Be there just to make up the number
Extreme Joy Begets Sorrow

To lure the tiger out of the mountains

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, warlords possessed many parts of the land. Sun Ce was only 17 years old, but young and promising. He followed in his father's footsteps and his power began to grow. In AD 199, Sun Ce wanted to advance further and managed to occupy Lu Jiang county in Jiangbei. Liu Xun was the ambitious and powerful warlord of Lu Jiang county and so in order to neutralize him Sun Ce organized a Coup. Sun Ce knew that Liu Xun was extremely greedy and so sent him a precious gift with a letter praising his achievements and asking for him to kindly surrender Jiangxi. After receiving the gift and reading the letter Liu Xun decided to banish Sun Ce from his kingdom once and for all and ordered his army to attack. On seeing the soldiers readying for attack Sun Ce reportedly said "The tiger has come out, and we will now occupy Lu Jiang." And Lo and behold they did. Now this phrase is used to mean luring or manipulating others into a position of weakness which can then be exploited.

To be a person with a very limited outlook

Once upon a time, a sea turtle came upon a frog that lived in an old abandoned well. Upon seeing the turtle, the frog boasted:"Look, I am happy and completely at ease here. Why don't you come down and join me?" The turtle tried, but the well was too small, so the turtle didn't fit through the opening. Then, he said to the frog:"Have you ever seen the ocean? It is quite vast, and you would truly be happy if you lived there." Upon hearing this, the frog was so surprised he just stood there speechless. Nowadays, this idiom is usually used to describe people who are not only short-sighted, but also complacent.

Return the Jade to Zhao In One Piece

At the end of the Warring States period of China, the powerful state of Qin asked its neighboring state, Zhao, for "He Shi Bi", a priceless jade, and promised to offer 15 cities in exchange. The king of Zhao had Lin Xiang Ru, a brave and smart official, bring the jade to the state of Qin.
However, when the king of Qin got the jade, he refused to give out the cities; therefore, Li Xiang Ru took the jade back in the disguise of pointing out a tiny flaw of the jade, and then he stood by a pillar, threating the king that he would break the jade and then killed himself, if the king tried to seize the jade back by force.
The king, unwilling to see such a valuable thing ruined in front of him, promised again that he would certainly give out the 15 cities and would hold a formal ceremony in which Qin and Zhao would exchange the jade and the cities.
Lin Xiang Ru agreed, but he sensed the king's insincerity and secretly sent the jade back to Zhao.

To Concentrate

During the Warring States period of China, there was a master in GO named Yi Qiu who was so famous that many young men came to learn from him.

TO BE CONTINUED... Buy now and enjoy all the stories!