Zhu De (朱德) is an early Communist folk hero, and the founder of the People’s Liberation Army (解放军), also called the Red Army (红军). This popular revolutionary story highlights his willingness to toil alongside the rank and file soldiers. HSK 3-4.
1928年，朱德同志带领一支红军队伍到井冈山。山上是红军，山下不远就是敌人。
井冈山上粮食不多，常常要派一些人到山下的田园去挑粮。井冈山离田园很远，山高路窄，非常难走。可是每次挑粮大家都争着去。
朱德同志也跟战士们一起去挑粮。他穿着草鞋，挑起满满的一担粮食，跟大家一起爬山。白天挑粮，晚上还常常整夜整夜地学习怎样跟敌人打仗。大家觉得他要做的工作太多，就把他那根扁担藏了起来。可是朱德同志又找到了一根扁担，写上“朱德扁担，不要拿走”八个大字。大家见了，更敬爱朱德同志，不好意思再藏他的扁担了。
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| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 年 | Nián | surname Nian; grain; harvest (old); variant of 年[nian2] |
| 朱德 | Zhū Dé | Zhu De (1886-1976), communist leader and founder of the People's Liberation Army |
| 同志 | tóng zhì | comrade; (slang) homosexual; CL:位[wei4] |
| 带领 | dài lǐng | to guide; to lead |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 支 | Zhī | surname Zhi |
| 红军 | Hóng jūn | Red Army (1928-1937), predecessor of the PLA; (Soviet) Red Army (1917-1946) |
| 队 | duì | squadron; team; group; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 伍 | wú | five (banker numeral); a group; to mingle; surname Wu |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 井冈山 | Jǐng gāng Shān | Jinggang Mountains, in the Jiangxi-Hunan border region |
| 山 | Shān | surname Shan |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 山下 | Shān xià | Yamashita (Japanese surname) |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 远 | yuǎn | far; distant; remote; (intensifier in a comparison) by far; much (lower etc) |
| 就是 | jìu shì | exactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也[ye3]) even; even if |
| 敌人 | dí rén | enemy; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 粮食 | liáng shi | foodstuff; cereals; CL:種|种[zhong3] |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 常常 | cháng cháng | frequently; often |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 派 | pā | used in 派司[pa1 si5] |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 田园 | tián yuán | fields; countryside; rural; bucolic |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 挑 | tiao | to carry on a shoulder pole; to pick |
| 粮 | liáng | grain; food; provisions; agricultural tax paid in grain |
| 离 | chī | mythical beast (archaic); surname Li |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 高 | Gāo | surname Gao |
| 路 | Lù | surname Lu |
| 窄 | zhái | narrow; badly off |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 难走 | nán zǒu | hard to get to; difficult to travel (i.e. the road is bad) |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed |
| 每次 | měi cì | every time |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone; influential family; great expert |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 争 | zhēng | to strive for; to vie for; to argue or debate; deficient or lacking (dialect); how or what (literary) |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 跟 | gēn | heel; to follow closely; to go with; (of a woman) to marry sb; with; compared with; to; towards; and (joining two nouns) |
| 战士 | zhàn shì | fighter; soldier; warrior; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 一起 | yī qǐ | (in) the same place; together; in company (with); altogether; in total; an instance of; a case of (murder, accident, dispute etc) |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 穿着 | chuān zhuó | attire; clothes; dress |
| 草鞋 | cǎo xié | straw sandals |
| 起 | qǐ | to rise; to raise; to get up; to set out; to start; to appear; to launch; to initiate (action); to draft; to establish; to get (from a depot or counter); verb suffix, to start; sta… |
| 满 | Mǎn | Manchu ethnic group |
| 担 | dan | to undertake; to shoulder |
| 爬山 | pá shān | to go for a hike (esp. in the hills or mountains) |
| 白天 | bái tiān | daytime; during the day; day; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 整 | zhěng | (bound form) whole; complete; entire; (before a measure word) whole; (before or after number + measure word) exactly; (bound form) in good order; tidy; neat; (bound form) to put in… |
| 夜 | yè | variant of 夜[ye4]; night |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 学习 | xué xí | to learn; to study |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 打 | dá | (loanword) dozen; Taiwan pr. [da3] |
| 仗 | zhǎng | weaponry; to wield; to depend on; battle |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, frien… |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the ob… |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 根 | gēn | root; basis; classifier for long slender objects, e.g. cigarettes, guitar strings; CL:條|条[tiao2]; radical (chemistry) |
| 扁 | bián | flat; thin; to belittle; to look down on |
| 藏 | Zàng | Tibetan ethnic group; Tibet Autonomous Region (short name for 西藏自治區|西藏自治区[Xi1 zang4 Zi4 zhi4 qu1]) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 找到 | zhǎo dào | to find |
| 写 | xiě | to write |
| 不要 | bù yào | don't!; must not |
| 拿走 | ná zǒu | to take away |
| 八 | bā | eight |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother) |
| 字 | zì | letter; symbol; character; word; CL:個|个[ge4]; courtesy or style name traditionally given to males aged 20 in dynastic China |
| 见 | jiàn | to see; to meet; to appear (to be sth); to interview; opinion; view |
| 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard) |
| 敬爱 | jìng ài | to respect and love; to hold in high esteem |
| 不好 | bù hǎo | no good |
| 意思 | yì si | idea; opinion; meaning; wish; desire; interest; fun; token of appreciation, affection etc; CL:個|个[ge4]; to give as a small token; to do sth as a gesture of goodwill etc |
| 再 | zài | again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time; (before an adjective) more; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, an… |
In 1928, Comrade Zhu De lead a detachment of Red Army troops to Jinggang Mountain. The Red Army was on the mountain, but down the mountain not far away was the enemy.
There wasn’t much grain on Jinggang Mountain, so [they] often had to send a few people down to the fields below to tote back some grain. Jinggang Mountain was far from the fields, the mountain was high and the roads were narrow, it was very hard going. But each time grain had to be carried back, everyone fought to be the one to go.
Comrade Zhu De also went along with the soldiers to carry grain. He wore grass shoes, carrying a pole packed full of grain, and climbed the mountain with everybody else. During the day [he] carried grain, and during the evening he often spent the whole night studying how to make war on the enemy. Everyone felt he had too much work to do, so they took his carrying pole and hid it. But Comrade Zhu De found another carrying pole, and wrote 8 big words on it: “Zhu Du’s carrying pole, please don’t take it”. Everyone saw this, and loved and respected Comrade Zhu De even more, and were too ashamed to hide his carrying pole again.