亡羊补牢, Mend the fold after a sheep is lost

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During the Warring States Period (475-221 BC)， the State of Chu not very powerful. The king and the important court officials were dissolute and incompetent. They indulged in luxury and excessive pleasure all the time. Zhuang Xin, one of the ministers foresaw that the country was in danger. One day he remonstrated with the king: “Your Majesty, wherever you go, you’re always surrounded by people who flatter you with what you like. They try everything to make you happy so that you forgot to tend to state affairs. If you go on like this, no doubt, the country will perish sooner or later.”
        The King of Chu flew into a rage. “How dare you! You even use such vicious words to curse my country and mean to arouse resentment among the people!” Zhuang Xin explained, “I dare not curse the State of Chu. But I really have a premonition that Chu is facing great danger.” Seeing that the king is especially fond of those corrupt officials and trust them in everything, the minister thought Chu is bound to extinct. So he asked the king to let him leave Chu. He wanted to go to the State of Zhao and stay there for a while.
        The king gave him the leave.
        Five months later, the King of Qin sent his troops to invade Chu and occupied a large tract of its territory. The King of Chu himself went into exile. Now, the king remembered Zhuang Xin’s words. He sent his men to fetch him. When the king saw Zhuang Xin again, he asked him, “What can I do now?”
        Zhuang Xin replied, “It’s not too late if you mend the sheepfold when you find a sheep is missing.” He then made some good suggestions to rehabilitate the state and recover the lost land. The king was very much pleased.

Just like what Zhuang Xin says as long as we can draw lessons in from our mistakes, we can then remedy it by learning from them. In life, success does not come easy and behind every success lies a history of failures.

画饼充饥, Draw a Pancake to Allay Hunger

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Lu Yu was a learned man of integrity in the period of Three Kingdoms (220-280), serving as a senior official.
Once the emperor was selecting talents for a post, officials recommended a lot of famous people. The emperor of Wei said, “I would like to let Lu Yu select the right person instead of those well-known but incapable ones. Fame is just like a pancake drawn on the wall. You cannot eat it.”
Lu Yu suggested the emperor to combine examination with selection. From then on, officials were appointed according to their real ability. Lu Yu’s method for selection was widely praised.
The idiom came from what the emperor said. At first, it indicated enjoying an empty fame”. Later, people use it to describe satisfying oneself by imagining things or consoling oneself with false hopes.

 

Empty fame is pointless. Just like the current economy, you can relate the drawing of a pancake to the earlier bubble days where the only way to go is up.

专心致志, Single- hearted devotion

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Now, playing chess as a skill is insignificant. But if one does not give single hearted devotion to it. it won't be learned, just like any other skills.

Yi Qiu was known as the most famous expert at chess throughout the land. Once he gave lessons on chess to two men. One of them was completely absorbed in his teaching, listening attentively to Yi Qiu while the other, who seemed to be listening, had his mind on something else. In fact, he was having a fancy that a swan was flying towards him and he had in his hands a bow and an arrow, ready to shoot. As a result, though he was having the same lesson together with the first man, yet he turned out a much inferior pupil.

Should we say that the second man had a lower intelligence? No, that would not be true

In life, everything takes dedication, If one does not give single-hearted devotion to it, no skills will be learned. We must focus on what we want to achieve and put our heart, mind and soul into it in order to achieve our goals.

水深火热, Deep in Water and Scorched in Fire

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The state of Qi went on a punitive expedition against the State of Yan and triumphed* over it.
King Xuan of the State of Qi asked Mencius, “Some have advised me not to annex Yan while others have insisted that I should. Consider now, it took a state with 10,000 chariots** like ours only 50 days to beat another with the same number of chariots. This was something that could never have been achieved by human strength, it must have been the divine will. If I don’t annihilate Yan this time, there will certainly be punishment frim Heaven. What is your opinion?”
“If you carry out the annexation and the people of Yan are glad of it, then proceed,” replied Mencius.”There was one among the ancients who did the same thing and that was Emperor Wen***. On the other hand, if you carry it out and they are not happy about it, then you’d better not. There was a similar case in ancient times and that was in Emperor Wen. When a powerful state has overwhelmed another one of the same strength, and the conquered people come out to welcome the conquering army with food baskets and wine pots, it shows nothing but their eagerness to be relieved of the miseries they have long suffered under their own ruler, but, if stead you are going to plunge them deeper into the water and scorch them in a yet fiercer fire, it will only make the people turn away from you and look for help elsewhere.”

*meaning "to plunge people in an abyss of suffering"

** In ancient times, a state with 10,000 chariots was a powerful one: the strength of a state was measured by its number of chariots

*** Emperor Wen is known for his justice and benignity during the early Western Zhou Days

--

Literally refers to living in great misery. Often used to describe great misery, between a rock and a hard place. We in life are often caught in such situations. It is how we make of it and handle such situations which allows us to grow as humans.

五十步笑百步, One Who Retreats Fifty Paces Mocks One Who Retreats a Hundred

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King Hui of the State of Wei* said to Mencius**, “I have done my very best in dealing with state affairs. When there was a crop failure in Henei*** I moved my people to Hedong**** and brought back grain to Henei. When Hedong had a famine, I did likewise. But frim my observation I don’t see the administration of our neighbouring states any better cared for than mine. Why then does their population show no decrease and ours no increase?”
“Your Highness likes to fight wars,” Mencius answered. “So please allow me to take the battle as an example. Suppose the battle drum has already been beaten and the soldiers have taken up their arms, but instead of forging ahead, the men throw away their armour and flee with their weapons trailing behind, with some coming to a halt after retreating a hundred paces and others after fifty paces. If the latter try to mock at the former, what would you say about that?”
“They are wrong, of course. They have retreated just the same, whether a hundred paces or less than a hundred,” said the prince.
“Well, since Your Highness knows that, then you can’t expect to have a greater population than your neighboring states,” concluded Mencius.
The idiom derived from this story means that there is no difference in people who are behaving in the wrong.

*State of Wei, also called Liang, a powerful state during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

** Mencius (372-289 BC) , a great thinker, politician and educationalist at the time

*** present day region north of the Huanghe (Yellow River) in Henan Province

**** present day southern part of Shanxi Province

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Mencius was stating from this story that there is  no difference in people who are behaving in the wrong. The Pot Calling the Kettle Black. It makes absolutely no difference, there is seldom levels of wrong.

问一得三 Learning Three Things by Asking One Question

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Chen Kang* once asked Boyu**: “Has our teacher Confucius given you any special instruction?”
“No,” answered Long Li. “One day he was standing alone in the courtyard. When I passed by him, he stopped me and asked me whether I had learned The Book of Songs, and my reply was ‘not yet’. Then he advised me, ‘Without learning The Book of Songs, you will not be able to speak a refined language.’ So, I began reading The Book of Songs. On another day, my father was standing in the courtyard without any of his disciples around when I passed by.

Again the asked me whether I had learned The Book of Rites, and my answer was again ‘no’. as before, he admonished me saying: ‘Without reading The Book of Rites, you know not how to behave properly.’ As before, I listened to his advice and went back to read The Book of Rites. These were the only two things I have heard from my father.”

Hearing this, Chen Kang withdrew, feeling satisfied. He said: “I have raised one question, but I have learnt three things—I am now aware that I should learn The Book of Songs, read The Book of Rites and that a man of character like Confucius does not give special favor to his own son.”

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Sometimes, you can ask for a little information and get a lot more answers than you had expected. In Life, we are almost always given more information and knowledge than we had asked for. We just did not know that. It is always good to reflect back on earlier conversations, decisions and analyze if there is additional information or knowledge to be gleamed.

* Chen Kang name was Zi Qin, and who came from the State of Qi. He asked the question because some people were suspicious that Confucius must have taught his son more than his disciples.

** Boyu is Confucius' son Kong Li