This short tale addresses the background story behind the Chinese idiom 一暴十寒, which literally translates to “One day of sun, ten days of frost”, and which means “to bust butt for a little while and then get lazy”, or “to only work for a short time and then fail”. The story below really applies to […]
战国时，有个叫孟轲的人，大家称他为孟子。孟子善于通过打比方来发表议论。
当时，有人指责孟子不尽力帮助齐王。孟子便解释说:“比如说，天下有些易活的植物，假如把它放在太阳下晒一天，然后再把它放在阴冷的地方冻十天，即使是生命力再强的植物也会死。我见到齐王的机会少之甚少，即使给了他些良好的影响与帮助，我一离开，一些和我主张不同的人，又带给他许多不好影响。我怎么能使齐王的思想、品质好起来呢？”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 战国 | Zhàn guó | the Warring States period (475-221 BC) |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 孟 | ||
| 轲 | ||
| 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… |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone; influential family; great expert |
| 称 | chèn | to fit; to match; to suit; (coll.) to have; to possess; Taiwan pr. [cheng4] |
| 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]) |
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as; to serve as; to behave as; to become; to be; to do; by (in the passive voice); variant of 為|为[wei2] |
| 子 | zǐ | son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat; viscount, fourth of five orders o… |
| 善于 | shàn yú | to be good at; to be adept at |
| 通过 | tōng guò | to pass through; to get through; to adopt (a resolution); to pass (legislation); to pass (a test); by means of; through; via |
| 打比方 | dǎ bǐ fang | to make an analogy; to illustrate by analogy |
| 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… |
| 发表 | fā biǎo | to issue; to publish |
| 议 | yǐ | to comment on; to suggest |
| 论 | Lún | abbr. for 論語|论语[Lun2 yu3], The Analects (of Confucius) |
| 当时 | dāng shí | then; at that time |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone; people; anyone; there is someone there; occupied (as in restroom) |
| 指责 | zhǐ zé | to criticize; to find fault with; to denounce |
| 不尽 | bù jìn | not completely; endlessly |
| 力 | Lì | surname Li |
| 帮助 | bāng zhù | assistance; aid; to help; to assist |
| 齐 | Qí | (name of states and dynasties at several different periods); surname Qi |
| 王 | Wáng | surname Wang |
| 便 | biàn | plain; informal; suitable; convenient; opportune; to urinate or defecate; equivalent to 就[jiu4]: then; in that case; even if; soon afterwards |
| 解释 | jiě shì | explanation; to explain; to interpret; to resolve; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 比如说 | bǐ rú shuō | for example |
| 天下 | tiān xià | land under heaven; the whole world; the whole of China; realm; rule |
| 有些 | yǒu xiē | some; somewhat; rather; a bit |
| 易 | Yì | surname Yi; I Ching; Book of Changes (abbr. for 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]) |
| 活 | huó | to live; alive; living; work; workmanship |
| 植 | zhī | to plant |
| 物 | wù | (bound form) thing; (literary) the outside world as distinct from oneself; people other than oneself |
| 假 | gēi | used in 假掰[gei1 bai1]; to borrow (variant of 假[jia3]) |
| 如 | rú | as; as if; such as |
| 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… |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 放 | fàng | to put; to place; to release; to free; to let go; to let out; to set off (fireworks) |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 太阳 | tài yang | sun; sunlight; sunshine; temple (on the side of the human head) (abbr. for 太陽穴|太阳穴[tai4 yang2 xue2]) |
| 下 | xià | down; downwards; below; lower; later; next (week etc); second (of two parts); to decline; to go down; to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc); measure word to show the frequency … |
| 晒 | shài | variant of 曬|晒[shai4]; (of the sun) to shine on; to bask in (the sunshine); to dry (clothes, grain etc) in the sun; (fig.) to expose and share (one's experiences and thoughts) on the Web (loanword from "… |
| 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 … |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 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… |
| 阴冷 | yīn lěng | gloomy and cold |
| 地方 | dì fāng | region; regional (away from the central administration); local |
| 冻 | dǒng | to freeze; aspic or jelly |
| 十 | shí | ten; 10 |
| 即 | jí | namely; that is; i.e.; prompt; at once; at present; even if; prompted (by the occasion); to approach; to come into contact; to assume (office); to draw near |
| 使 | shǐ | to make; to cause; to enable; to use; to employ; to send; to instruct sb to do sth; envoy; messenger |
| 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] |
| 生 | shēng | to grow; to give birth; to produce; to be born; to arise; to occur; to light (a fire); to live; to be alive; life; raw; uncooked; unprocessed; unfamiliar; strange; (bound form) stu… |
| 命 | mǐng | life; order or command |
| 强 | qiāng | strong; powerful; vigorous; better; to force (qiang3); stubborn (jiang4); surname Qiang |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 死 | sǐ | to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid; extremely; damned |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 见到 | jiàn dào | to see |
| 机 | Jī | surname Ji |
| 少 | shǎo | few; less; to lack; to be missing; to stop (doing sth); seldom |
| 之 | zhī | (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]); him; her; it |
| 甚 | shén | variant of 什[shen2] |
| 给 | gěi | to; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier) |
| 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 |
| 些 | xiē | classifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several |
| 良好 | liáng hǎo | good; favorable; well; fine |
| 影响 | yǐng xiǎng | influence; effect; to influence; to affect (usually adversely); to disturb; CL:股[gu3] |
| 与 | yú | variant of 歟|欤[yu2] |
| 离开 | lí kāi | to depart; to leave |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 主张 | zhǔ zhāng | to advocate; to stand for; view; position; stand; proposition; viewpoint; assertion; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 不同 | bù tóng | different; distinct; not the same; not alike |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 带 | dài | band; belt; girdle; ribbon; tire; area; zone; region; CL:條|条[tiao2]; to wear; to carry; to take along; to bear (i.e. to have); to lead; to bring; to look after; to raise |
| 许多 | xǔ duō | many; a lot of; much |
| 不好 | bù hǎo | no good |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 思想 | sī xiǎng | thought; thinking; idea; ideology; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 品 | pǐn | (bound form) article; commodity; product; goods; (bound form) grade; rank; kind; type; variety; character; disposition; nature; temperament; to taste sth; to sample; to criticize; … |
| 质 | zhǐ | character; quality; to pawn; hostage; Taiwan pr. [zhi2] |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 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… |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?"); (sentence-final particle) indicating that a state or situation… |
During the Warring States Period, there was a man named Meng Ke [Mencius], who everyone called MengZi. Menzi was very good at creating analogies to foster discussion.
At that time, there was a person who criticized Mencius for not trying harder to help the King of Qi. Mencius explained plainly, saying, “Take this as an example: there are some plants that live well on this earth [lit: under heaven], but if you take them and put them in the sun for a day, then you take them and put them in the gloom and cold to freeze for ten days, even if their vitality is strong they’re still going to die. My opportunities to see the King of Qi have been less and less, so even if I give him some good influence and help, as soon as I leave, some people that don’t advocate the same things I do will influence him negatively. [That being the case,] how can I improve the quality of the King of Qi’s thinking?”