Everything is ready but the east wind(wàn shì jù bèi，zhǐ qiàn dōng fēng)

Everything is ready but the east wind

"Everything is ready, only owe Dongfeng" comes from the forty-nine chapters of the romance of the Three Kingdoms, the original text is: Kong Ming asked for paper and pen, held back about, secret book 16 words said: "to break Cao Gong, must use fire attack, everything is ready, only owe Dongfeng." The original intention was that Zhou Yu planned to attack Cao Cao with fire and made all the preparations. He suddenly remembered that he could not defeat the enemy without blowing the east wind. After this analogy, all the preparatory work has been done, only the last important condition is needed.

Entry

If you want to break Cao Gong, you must attack him with fire. Everything is ready, but the east wind

pronunciation

Chapter 49 of the romance of the Three Kingdoms: Kong Ming asked for the pen and paper, held back, and wrote 16 words in secret, saying: "if you want to break Cao Gong, you should use fire to attack, everything is ready, only the east wind." [synonym] careful preparation, planning for a long time [antonym] no progress, no improvement

English translation

Everythingisready,onlyowetheeastwind

Idiom information

Idiom explanation: everything is ready, only the east wind does not blow, can not set fire. I'm ready for everything except the last important condition. Idiom example: we are all ready, only owe Dongfeng, as long as the machine comes, it can be installed immediately. Idiom structure: complex sentence style: Three Kingdoms period

Explanation

The original intention was that Zhou Yu planned to attack Cao Cao with fire and made all the preparations. He suddenly remembered that he could not defeat the enemy without blowing the east wind. After this analogy, all the preparatory work is done well, waiting for action.

explain

Everything is ready, but the east wind is not blowing and the fire is not going to start. I'm ready for everything except the last important condition.

Event figures

Zhuge Liang

Detailed explanation

The origin of allusions

The 49th chapter of the romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong of Ming Dynasty: "Kong Ming asked for the pen and paper, held back the left and right, and wrote 16 words in secret, saying: if you want to break Cao Gong, you must attack with fire; if everything is ready, you only need the east wind."

Idiom story

After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and unified the north, in 208 ad, Cao Cao led 800000 troops stationed in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, prepared to attack Liu Biao, then moved eastward along the Yangtze River, defeated Sun Quan and unified the world. At that time, Liu Biao had died of illness, and his son Liu Cong was weak and incompetent. He died without fighting. In A.D. 208, Cao Cao recruited Liu Biao's troops, claiming that 800000 troops were advancing toward the Yangtze River and stationed in Chibi, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. After trying to defeat Liu Bei, Cao Cao attacked Sun Quan. At this time, Liu Bei was stationed in Fancheng (now Xiangfan City, Hubei Province). When he heard that Cao Cao's army was going south, he decided to retreat to Jiangling (now Jiangling, Hubei). When Cao Cao arrived in Xiangyang, he heard that Liu Bei was retreating to Jiangling. He also heard that Liu Biao had accumulated a large amount of military supplies in Jiangling. He was afraid that Liu Bei would take them, so he led 5000 light cavalry to chase Liu Bei. Liu Bei's men and horses were chased by Cao Cao's cavalry. After being defeated by Cao's army, Liu Bei sent Zhuge Liang to Chaisang (now the southwest of Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province) to meet Sun Quan on the way out to persuade Sun Quan to resist Cao Cao. It happened that Sun Quan was afraid that Jingzhou would be occupied by Cao Cao and wanted to fight against Cao Cao with Liu Bei. Zhuge Liang said to Sun Quan, "although general Liu has been defeated for a while, there are still 20000 water troops left. Although Cao Cao had many soldiers and horses, his soldiers were exhausted after him. Besides, the northerners are not used to water wars, and the people in Jingzhou are not satisfied with them. As long as we work together, we will be able to defeat Cao Jun. " Sun Quan was overjoyed, so he ordered Zhou Yu as the main general, Cheng Pu as the deputy general, and led 30000 Elite Water troops to join forces with Liu Bei's troops stationed in Fankou (now Ezhou, Hubei Province). About 50000 people marched westward along the Yangtze River to meet Cao's army. At that time, Sun Quan and Liu Bei had few troops, while Cao Cao had a large number of troops and was in an overwhelming position. Zhu Geliang, Liu Bei's military adviser, and Zhou Yu, Sun Quan's general, discussed good strategies to defeat the enemy. They both agreed that Cao Cao could only be defeated by fire attack. Zhou Yu made Cao Cao kill Cao Cao's generals Cai Mao and Zhang Yun who were familiar with the water war and could resist them. Zhou Yu also asked Pang Tong to cheat Cao Jun into connecting the warships. Zhou Yu beat Huang Gai again and asked the veteran to use "bitter meat tactics" to cheat Cao Cao. In fact, Huang Gai filled the boat with inflammable items and was ready to rush to caoying by feigning surrender to launch a fire attack. But when everything was ready, Zhou Yu found that Cao Cao's ships were all in the northwest of the river, while his ships were on the south bank. It was winter, and there was only northwest wind. If we attacked Cao Cao with fire, it would not burn Cao Cao, but would burn Cao Cao's own head. Only when there was a southeast wind, we could launch a fire attack on Cao Cao. Zhou Yu became ill with anxiety and was bedridden. Only military strategist Zhuge Liang knows. He claimed that he had a secret recipe to cure Zhou Yu. Zhuge Liang visited Zhou Yu and wrote down the prescription: if you want to break Cao Gong, you should attack him with fire. Everything is ready, but you need Dongfeng. Four verses broke Zhou Yu's mind. Zhou Yu was surprised and thought to himself: Zhuge Liang is really a man of God: since his mind has been guessed by Zhuge Liang, he will ask for advice on how to defeat the enemy. Zhuge Liang has rich knowledge of astronomy and meteorology. He predicted that the southeast wind would blow for several days in the near future, so he said to Zhou Yu: I have the magic power to call the wind and rain. I'll lend you the southeast wind for three days and three nights. What do you think? Zhou Yu said happily, "don't say three days and three nights. If there is a strong southeast wind in one night, the event will be successful.". Zhou Yu ordered his subordinates to prepare for all the fire attacks, waiting for Zhuge Liang to borrow the east wind, and to March immediately. Zhuge Liang asked Zhou Yu to build the Seven Star altar in Nanping mountain. Then he went to the altar to burn incense. He said something in his mouth, pretending to call the wind and the rain. In the middle of the night, when he heard the wind blowing and the flag moving, Zhou Yu hurried out of the army tent to watch. There was a strong southeast wind, and he immediately ordered a fire attack. Huang Gai took advantage of the wind to take the boat into CaoJun water village and set fire. Cao Jun's boat formation soon burned up. In the blink of an eye, it has been burned into a sea of fire. Although the water stronghold was burned, the camp on the shore was also on fire. Sun and Liu's allied forces took advantage of the situation to attack, and Cao's army suffered most of the casualties. In the battle of Chibi, Cao Cao suffered heavy losses. So far, the situation of tripartite confrontation has basically taken shape. the idiom "everything is ready, only the east wind" means that when everything is ready, the last important condition is missing.

Chinese PinYin : wàn shì jù bèi，zhǐ qiàn dōng fēng