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This story is about two beautiful girls.
Their beauty cause the downfall of cities and countries.
Even the fish forgets to swim and sinks to the
bottom of the river and the wild geese forget
flap their wings and fall to the ground.
They are Xi *** and Zhao Jun.
This story will tell us the story about them,
and the meaning of Beauty.
Welcome to the 5th episode of
learning Chinese idioms with Steven.
Having a good understanding of Chinese idioms,
can help you grasp the essence of the Chinese language,
discover Chinese history and taste the culture of China.
Chinese literature consists of many historic
and inclusive idioms,
which cannot be compared to any other
languages in the world.
The stories behind the Chinese idioms are moving,
rich and colorful with a touch of wit and humour.
They are like a painting of the China's Chinese history;
dense in ink and color,
cleverly depicting the sentiment and romance in the air.
These are the charms of Chinese idioms.
In this episode, I will be teaching you the this idiom
"Make Fish Sink and Geese Alight"
This idiom is used to describe an exceedingly
beautiful woman who could cause the
the downfall of cities and countries.
Even the fish forgets to swim and sinks
to the bottom of the river and
the wild geese forget to swing
their wings and fall to the ground.
It also implies beautiful woman
can have such a lethal power.
Among the many fine-looking ladies in ancient China,
four women stood out the most and
they are labelled as "The Four Beauties”.
Their names are Xi ***, Diao Chan,
*** Zhao Jun and Yang Yu Huan.
Back then, people described their enchanting
appearances in these metaphors:
Her beauty is obscuring the moon and making flowers blush.
She even makes fish sink to the bottom of the river
and geese fall from the sky.
These metaphors later became two Chinese idioms
which are often used together:
to describe beauty exceeding even that of the natural world. In this episode, I will tell you the story behind
"Make Fish Sink and Geese Alight".
The story happened between spring and autumn
and Warring States periods.
There was a fine-looking lady called, Xi ***
who lived in Kingdom Yue.
It is said that when she was washing clothes in the river,
the crystal clear water reflected her attractive figure,
making her looked even more stunning.
Shocked by such beauty,
the fish forgot to swim and sank to the bottom of the river. Since then, "fish is sinking" became Xi ***’s nickname.
At that time, Kingdom Yue was defeated by empire Wu
and it became a subsidiary state of Wu.
King Yue was a captive of emperor Wu and
he spent three years as a slave.
After his release, King Yue longs for revenge. Fan Li, King Yue’s counsellor informed the returned King
that there was a beautiful woman called Xi *** in his country.
He advised the King to set a trap; present her to emperor Wu
as an undercover, in order to
break down his opponent’s kingdom. King Yue thought it was a good idea,
so Xi *** was charged with the mission to
sacrifice for the country and went to the state of Wu.
Emperor Wu wasn’t aware of King Yue’s tactic.
He was deeply mesmerized by Xi ***’s exquisite beauty,
her skilled poetry and dancing moves.
Wu drank constantly in the palace and was unable to get up
each morning to attend his duties.
King Wu fell right into the trap;
ignoring affairs of his state.
As a result, Wu’s force started to
deteriorate and finally defeated by King Yue.
This pretty woman conquered the enemy’s king
and helped her country regained power.
Xi *** could be the first in Chinese history
as a successful female undercover.
The second lady behind this story is Zhao Jun.
Her story is quite poignant and touching as well. According to the legend,
Zhao Jun was born a natural beauty,
had unusual intelligence,
and was skilled at poetry and painting.
Some poets described her beauty as a peerless
crescent, even the flowers hide in the trees for shame. Before 36 BC, Emperor Han announced that girls
could be chosen to enter the palace.
The 16 year old Zhao Jun ranked first
and was selected to go in there.
In the third year entering the palace,
the northern nomads visited the Han dynasty
and were willing to concede a permanent and peaceful relationship.
To make peace with the aggressive northern nomads,
Emperor Han wanted to send one of his concubines
to serve as the Princess.
However, nobody wanted to be married to the
ruthless nomads and move to the distant land.
Preparing to sacrifice for her country,
Zhao Jun came forward.
Emperor Han met this lady whom he had not seen before,
only to find that she looked so beautiful.
He regretted deeply in his heart and wanted to
let Zhao Jun stay.
Unfortunately, he had to keep his promise
and could only sigh it was too late.
On a bleak autumn day,
Zhao Jun carried the responsibility to make peace
between the Han dynasty and the northern nomads,
farewell to her homeland and journey to the north.
As she travelled to the north,
the sky seemed extra dark and foggy,
the autumn wind was blowing onto the vast fields
while the cloud seemed to be falling upon her,
Zhao Jun started to mourn of homesickness.
She sat on the saddle while the horses were crossing
on the glacier.
The cold wind was penetrating into her bones.
Her isolation and loneliness was reflected in the lonely moon light.
The tune playing on her piano had changed to the sound
of the northern nomad’s instrument."She struck the strings of her lute and started
to play a poignant and sad parting tune.
According to the legend,
the geese flying in the sky heard such captivating music
and saw this beautiful woman that they forgot to swing
their wings and fall to the ground.
Since then, "falling geese" became Zhao Jun’s nickname. After Zhao Jun left her home country,
the Han Dynasty and the northern nomads maintained
a friendly and peaceful relationship.
The beacon of frontier was off for 50 years.
The countries flourished in prosperity and peace.
Xi *** and Zhao Jun are respectively labelled as
"Fish is sinking" and "Geese is falling".
Later these nicknames evolved to an idiom
which used to describe beautiful woman. In the next episode,
I'll tell you the stories about the remaining two
Chinese beauties and the associate idiom,
"Make the Moon Hide and Flowers Close Up For Shame".
Thank you for watching, I’ll see you next time.