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Relativity of hidden values
July 12, 2009, Sunday
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Some Chinese idioms are actually expressions of the dialectical thinking of the ancient Chinese.
Many of them believed in the relativity of things and the interchange of two opposing factors, such as "what goes around, comes around" in English.
A good example of this in the Chinese language is the idiom sai4 weng1 shi1 ma3, or "when the old man on the frontier lost his mare."
The idiom originates in the "Writings of Prince Huainan," which was compiled by a group of thinkers during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24).
The story goes like this:
Long ago, there was a young man living near the Great Wall who had a mare. One day, his mare fled into an area ruled by tribes of ethnic minority people. On learning this, his friends and relatives came to console him. His father told him: "Cheer up, son. Who says this may not be a blessing?"
Several months later, the mare came back with a group of fine horses. The friends and relatives were just as joyous as the young man and they all came to congratulate him. But this time, the old man warned his son, saying: "Who says this won't turn out to be a misfortune?"
The young man loved the new horses, and every morning he took a ride on one of them. Since the new horses were not well tamed, the young man fell off one of them and became crippled.
Again, his friends and relatives came to console him and again the father said: "Who says this may not be a blessing in disguise?"
A year later, the minority tribes began invading areas inside the Great Wall. Most young people living in the frontier regions were drafted into the army to fight the invaders. And about nine out of every 10 of the draftees were killed in the battlefields. As a cripple, the owner of the mare was not ordered to join the army and, together with his father, survived the border war.
"Therefore, a blessing may turn out to be a misfortune and the contrary may also be true," the story in the "Writings of Prince Huainan" concludes.
In the idiom, instead of his son, the old man has become the owner of the mare. And the idiomatic saying is usually followed by the phrase an1 zhi1 fei1 fu2, meaning, "Who could have guessed it was a blessing in disguise?"
Now, sai4 weng1 shi1 ma3, an1 zhi1 fei1 fu2 (when the old man on the frontier lost his mare, who could have guessed it was a blessing in disguise?) is frequently cited by people when they try to console someone who has suffered an unexpected loss or mishap.
Many of them believed in the relativity of things and the interchange of two opposing factors, such as "what goes around, comes around" in English.
A good example of this in the Chinese language is the idiom sai4 weng1 shi1 ma3, or "when the old man on the frontier lost his mare."
The idiom originates in the "Writings of Prince Huainan," which was compiled by a group of thinkers during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24).
The story goes like this:
Long ago, there was a young man living near the Great Wall who had a mare. One day, his mare fled into an area ruled by tribes of ethnic minority people. On learning this, his friends and relatives came to console him. His father told him: "Cheer up, son. Who says this may not be a blessing?"
Several months later, the mare came back with a group of fine horses. The friends and relatives were just as joyous as the young man and they all came to congratulate him. But this time, the old man warned his son, saying: "Who says this won't turn out to be a misfortune?"
The young man loved the new horses, and every morning he took a ride on one of them. Since the new horses were not well tamed, the young man fell off one of them and became crippled.
Again, his friends and relatives came to console him and again the father said: "Who says this may not be a blessing in disguise?"
A year later, the minority tribes began invading areas inside the Great Wall. Most young people living in the frontier regions were drafted into the army to fight the invaders. And about nine out of every 10 of the draftees were killed in the battlefields. As a cripple, the owner of the mare was not ordered to join the army and, together with his father, survived the border war.
"Therefore, a blessing may turn out to be a misfortune and the contrary may also be true," the story in the "Writings of Prince Huainan" concludes.
In the idiom, instead of his son, the old man has become the owner of the mare. And the idiomatic saying is usually followed by the phrase an1 zhi1 fei1 fu2, meaning, "Who could have guessed it was a blessing in disguise?"
Now, sai4 weng1 shi1 ma3, an1 zhi1 fei1 fu2 (when the old man on the frontier lost his mare, who could have guessed it was a blessing in disguise?) is frequently cited by people when they try to console someone who has suffered an unexpected loss or mishap.
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