sleep on the brushwood(wò xīn cháng dǎn)

sleep on the brushwood

The pronunciation is w ò x ī NCH á NGD ǎ n. It is a Chinese idiom, which means to describe a person who bears humiliation and gains strength through anger.

The origin of Idioms

"The Old Five Dynasties History · Hanshu · Yindi Ji" spring amnesty text: the service has not stopped, the army changed Fang Yin, so I try to be brave and pay, abandon food and stop sleeping. Although I live above 100 million trillion, I don't respect the ninth five year plan, and gradually hope for Chengping and Yongan, which is well-known. Internally, I report to the Empress Dowager's kindness and training, and externally, I rely on the loyalty of many scholars. (this is the real source of sleeping on fuel and tasting gall. Gou Jian only tasted gall, but not lying on salary) "in historical records, the family of Gou Jian, king of Yue, said:" king of Yue, Gou Jian's rebellion against the state was painstaking. He put his gall into sitting. Sitting and lying means leaning on gall and eating gall. "

Idiom usage

It's a combination; it's a predicate, an attribute and an adverbial; it's commendatory. Example: one of Li Zhi's Ode to the ancients in the Ming Dynasty: "sleeping on firewood and tasting gall is to swallow Wu, iron face and fangs is husband."

Idioms and allusions

In 496 BC, he Lu, king of Wu, sent troops to attack the state of Yue. He was defeated by Gou Jian, king of Yue. He Lu was also seriously injured. Before he died, he told his son Fu Chai to avenge him. Fu Chai kept his father's words in mind and stepped up his military training day and night, preparing to attack Yue. Two years later, Fu Chai led his troops to defeat Gou Jian. Gou Jian was surrounded and had no way to go. He was ready to commit suicide. At this time, counsellor Wen Zhong persuaded him and said, "Minister Bo Chu of the state of Wu is greedy and lustful. You can send someone to bribe him." Gou Jian followed Wen Zhong's advice and sent him to bribe Bo Chu with treasure. Bo Chu agreed to go to see the king of Wu with Wen Zhong. Wen Zhong met the king of Wu, offered his treasure and said, "the king of Yue is willing to surrender and serve you as your servant. Please forgive him." Bo Chu is also speaking for Wen Zhong. Wu Zixu stood up and objected loudly: "people often say that" to cure a disease, we must get rid of the root cause. "Gou Jian is far sighted, Wen Zhong and Fan Li are smart and capable. If we let them go this time, they will find a way to get revenge after they go back!" At this time, Fu Chai thought that the state of Yue was not enough to deal with the problem, so he did not listen to Wu Zixu's advice, agreed to the surrender of the state of Yue, and withdrew his army to the state of Wu. After the withdrawal of troops from the state of Wu, Gou Jian took his wife and doctor Fan Li to the state of Wu to serve the king of Wu, herding cattle and sheep, and finally won the favor and trust of the king of Wu. Three years later, they were released and returned home. When Gou Jian returned home, he was determined to be angry and ready for revenge. He was afraid that his desire for a comfortable life would kill his ambition for revenge. At night, he would sleep on a pile of straw with weapons on his pillow. He would hang a gall in the house and taste it every morning. The soldiers outside the door asked him, "have you forgotten the shame of three years?" He sent Wen Zhong to manage state affairs, Fan Li to manage military affairs. He went to the fields to work with farmers in person, and his wife also spins and weaves. After ten years of hard struggle, the state of Yue was finally well equipped and became strong. Fu Chai, the king of Wu, blindly tried to fight for hegemony without considering the hardships of people's livelihood. He also believed Bo Chu's bad words and killed his loyal minister Wu Zixu. In the end, Fu Chai succeeded in fighting for hegemony and dominated the princes. But at that time, the state of Wu, seemingly powerful, was actually on the decline. In 482 B.C., Fu Chai personally led the army to the north to compete with the state of Jin for the leader of the princes and allies. King Gou Jian of Yue took advantage of the elite soldiers of the state of Wu to attack suddenly, defeated the Wu soldiers and killed the prince friend. When Fu Chai heard the news, he quickly led his troops home and sent someone to ask Gou Jian for peace. Gou Jian thought that he could not destroy the state of Wu at once, so he agreed. In 473 B.C., Gou Jian personally led the army to attack the state of Wu for the second time. At this time, the state of Wu was at the end of a strong crossbow and could not resist the strong attack of the Yue army. Finally, Fu Chai sent someone to ask Gou Jian for peace, and Fan Li insisted on destroying the state of Wu. When Fu Chai saw that he could not make peace, he regretted that he had not listened to Wu Zixu's advice. He was so ashamed that he drew his sword and committed suicide.

Textual research on history

The story of Gou Jian's death has been spreading all the time. However, some people have asked: is there really such a thing in history? In Zuo Zhuan, there are a lot of records about King Gou Jian of Yue in the history of "Dinggong" and "aigong", but there is no mention about him. In Guoyu, Wu Yu and Yue Yu record the struggle between Wu and Yue, but there is no description about Gou Jian's lying salary and tasting courage. In historical records, the family of Goujian, the king of Yue, only records that Goujian could see the gall hanging in front of his bed, and he could see it sitting and lying down, and he could taste the gall when he ate. Sima Qian believed that Gou Jian had tasted courage, but he didn't mention lying salary. When does the idiom "sleeping on fuel and tasting gall" appear? Su Shi, a litterateur of the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote a Book of imitating Sun Quan to answer Cao Cao. Su Shi of the Northern Song Dynasty wrote a virtual letter to Cao Cao for Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms. In the letter, Su Shi used his imagination and joked about Sun Quan's "lying on fuel and tasting gall". This is nothing to do with Gou Jian. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Lu Zuqian talked about the Wu King Fu Chai's "eating gall on the back of a firewood" in Zuo's legend. Zhang Pu of the Ming Dynasty said in the spring and Autumn Annals of the kingdoms that the husband's position was to avenge his father's revenge, and he encouraged himself by lying down on fuel and tasting courage. This kind of view raises Fu Chai, does not have Gou Jian what matter. However, the books of the Southern Song Dynasty repeatedly mentioned that King Gou Jian of Yue lived on the grass and tasted the gall, and Liang Yu's play huanxisha in the late Ming Dynasty also played up the heroic deeds of Gou Jian. In his historical novels, Feng Menglong, a writer in the late Ming Dynasty, also mentioned the story of Gou Jian's suffering from hardships many times. In the spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, the biography of Gou Jian's return to his country records that after his return to his country, Wang honed his body and mind and worked hard day and night. At the time of extreme difficulty, "attacking Polygonum". Polygonum is a very bitter dish. If there are too many Polygonum vegetables, it means Polygonum salary. When Gou Jian was sleepy, he used bitter herbs to stimulate his eyes and nose to dispel drowsiness. "Taste the gall" is the bitter taste of mouth and body, "lie salary" is "lie eyes attack with Polygonum salary", don't let eyes close to sleep. It is a misunderstanding of the spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue that later generations say "lying down on firewood".

Chinese PinYin : wò xīn cháng dǎn