|
|
|
|
|
       |
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Peh Shing Huei
China Bureau Chief
The story behind the proverb
February 22, 2009 Sunday, 04:04 PM
Peh Shing Huei shares the real tale behind an age-old Chinese idiom.
IN BEIJING But there is a little unfortunate story behind a proverb the US Secretary of State used. In a speech in New York before her Asia trip, she said: "When you are in a common boat, you need to cross the river peacefully together," to suggest how US and China should work together to overcome the current economic crisis. Premier Wen Jiabao praised her for the use of the proverb "tong zhou gong ji" during their meeting here on Saturday. He added that the proverb is from The Art of War by Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese military strategist. But what Mr Wen did not share with Mrs Clinton is the story behind the proverb. It came about during the late Spring and Autumn Period (5th century BC), when a turbulent China was divided into various warring states. Among them were the State of Wu (present-day Jiangsu and Anhui areas) and the State of Yue (present-day Zhejiang Province), which fought a series of wars. One day, people from Wu and Yue were crossing a river while in the same boat. They regarded each other as enemies and were prepared to fight. But a strong wind came up when the boat was in the middle of the river and threatened to sink it. The two people decided to put aside their enmity, and cooperated to steer the bat to safety. It is all well and good and the idiom has since been used to describe people burying their differences during a time of crisis, pulling together to overcome difficulties. Mrs Clinton most certainly used the proverb correctly. But the story of the Wu and Yue states after the boat incident is something which Mrs Clinton probably did not know. The two states went back to fighting and the King of Yue was even captured and became a slave of the State of Wu for three years. He was allowed to return to his own state eventually, where he built up his forces again and annihilated the State of Wu. The State of Yue became the hegemon in the Spring and Autumn Period. Some lessons there for US-China relations? I'm sure Mrs Clinton would hope not. Maybe that is why Mr Wen did not tell her more of the story behind the proverb. Tags: china, politics, us 
Your comments are welcome. The following rules apply: |
|
|
Other blogs by Peh Shing Huei
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Best viewed at 1152x864 resolution with IE 6.0 or
FireFox 2.0 and above Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co.
Regn No. 198402868E | Privacy Statement
| Terms & Conditions
|
|
As one of the translators of Sun Z's the art of war, I lke to share my translaton of that particular passage. Mr translation is: In the past , the people from two different states, Wu and Yue, hated one another intensely. However, if you put them in the same boat in a heavy storm, they would be compelled to help each other to weather the storm as naturally as one's left hand assistng the right.
It is nice to see Thomas, one of the founders from Sonchi. com sharing his view with us about ths article. My humble opinion is that Sun Z's simply pointiong out the bleeding obvious: survival and self-interest trumps enmity any time,
tan han hiong
Hillary should use the proverb like: When you lawn the weed, you should rid the roots, or else when the spring wind blow, the weeds will blossom again"!
Chinese will remian chinese regardless of how much the westerners try to woo or lure them into the western lifestyle.
Proverbs are deep and insight with profound experiences of the past; we only continue to repeat the forefathers mistake to learn the mistake for our own selves. older and wiser? not really in true political relationships.
I don't think Clinton translated the Chinese proverb quite correctly. 'Gong ji' does not mean to behave peacefully, but to help each other, which is more meaningful in this context.
Moreover, in your article on Feb 22, you said that Clinton's 'you should dig a well BEFORE you are thirsty‘, referred to the Chinese proverb 'lin ke jue jing'. The proverb actually means the opposite, meaning 'to dig a well JUST WHEN you are thirsty', or 'not to make timely preparation'.
Also, contrary to what you reported in the same article, the phrase 'xie shou gong jing' does not appear in The Art of War: it is only a stock saying. Chinese news reported that Premier Wen referred to it as another saying; he did not say it is from Sun Tzu.
China, the human right lover
* Contrary to popular belief, it is a fact.
30 years ago, many Chinese died of starvation, did not have a roof over their heads…
Not any more now.
Are these the basic human rights?
* Why you’re lied to.
The media wants to create controversy to sell their stuffs.
The politician wants to establish a common enemy, so you ignore more important problems that they cannot fix.
The offense companies have more reason to expand.
They all assume you are stupid and cannot analyze.
* Why US is human right violator.
How many we killed and how many Chinese killed abroad last year?
How many innocent people we have to kill in Iraq before we stop?
How many national guards are sent to the killing field against their will??
Should we destroy another country accusing them to have ‘mass destruction weapons’?
Why it is OK for us to own nuclear weapons that can destroy the entire world with a push of a button?
How many citizens die of obesity as we encourage “good” food?
How many poor remain to be poor for generations due to our generous welfare system?
How many our children are killed every year due to our lack of gun control law?
Gun control is not even an issue for both political parties.
How many teenage mothers we encourage starting from the top politicians?
How many Indians stay in their reservation forever and got drunk by not providing them with jobs?
How we use up the world’s oil and blame China who uses less than ¼ of ours per capita?
In addition, a good portion of China’s oil is used to manufacture our stuffs that we do not really need.
How we blame China for military expenditure while ours is 10 times theirs?
How we encourage our citizens to spend on credit and buy houses we cannot afford until the entire financial system collapses?
When special interest groups donate millions to politicians, how can they make unbiased decisions for us?
The list is endless.
China has its own problems and we have our own. Let each work on her problems and we’ll have a better world.
Your yardstick is good for your country but not mine, and China’s yardstick is comparing China 30 years ago. It is laughable to use the yardstick of a developed country (US) to measure a developing country (China), and vice versa. Depending on which yardstick you’re using, China could be a human right lover and US a violator – that could sound funny!
Hello Peh Shing Huei thank you for sharing the boat story of Wu and Yue; more people should be made aware of it. As a founder of Sonshi, a website dedicated to Sun Tzu's Art of War, I will say that what happens after the people of Wu and Yue step off the boat is still only part of the story. Conflicts are an inevitable part of our lives, even for nations. Much like the Native Americans and American settlers were first friends, then bitter enemies, and now friends again. What's most important is that nations work together today and let what happens tomorrow be handled tomorrow. Thanks again for the great article. Thomas
1 2 >