Story behind the Chinese idiom 专心致志 zhuān xīn zhì zhì, which means “to do something with single-minded devotion”.
从前有一个下棋能手名叫秋，他的棋艺非常高超。
秋有两个学生，一起跟他学习下棋，其中一个学生非常专心集中精力跟老师学习。另一个却不这样，他认为学下棋很容易，用不着认真。老师讲解的时候，他虽然坐在那里，眼睛也好像在看着棋子可心里却想着：“要是现在到野外射下一只鸿雁，美餐一顿该多好。 ”因为他总是胡思乱想心不在焉，老师的讲解一点也没听进去。
结果，虽然两个学生同是一个名师传授，但是，一个进步很快，成了棋艺高强的名手，另一个却没学到一点本事。
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| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 从前 | cóng qián | previously; formerly; once upon a time |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 下棋 | xià qí | to play chess |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 手 | shǒu | hand; (formal) to hold; person engaged in certain types of work; person skilled in certain types of work; personal(ly); convenient; classifier for skill; CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1] |
| 名叫 | míng jiào | called; named |
| 秋 | Qīu | surname Qiu; old variant of 秋[qiu1]; used in 鞦韆|秋千[qiu1 qian1] |
| 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]) |
| 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… |
| 棋 | qí | variant of 棋[qi2]; chess; chess-like game; a game of chess; CL:盤|盘[pan2]; chess piece; CL:個|个[ge4],顆|颗[ke1] |
| 艺 | yì | skill; art |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 高 | Gāo | surname Gao |
| 超 | chao | to exceed; to surpass; to pass; ultra- |
| 两 | liǎng | two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jin1] (old) |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 学生 | xué sheng | student; schoolchild |
| 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) |
| 跟 | gēn | heel; to follow closely; to go with; (of a woman) to marry sb; with; compared with; to; towards; and (joining two nouns) |
| 学习 | xué xí | to learn; to study |
| 其中 | qí zhōng | among; in; included among these |
| 专 | zhuan | for a particular person, occasion, purpose; special; particular (to sth); specialized |
| 心 | xīn | heart; mind; intention; center; core; CL:顆|颗[ke1],個|个[ge4] |
| 集中 | jí zhōng | to concentrate; to centralize; to focus; centralized; concentrated; to put together |
| 精力 | jīng lì | energy |
| 老 | lǎo | prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity; old (of people); venerabl… |
| 师 | Shī | surname Shi |
| 另 | lìng | other; another; separate; separately |
| 却 | què | old variant of 卻|却[que4]; but; yet; however; while; to go back; to decline; to retreat; nevertheless; even though |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 认为 | rèn wéi | to believe; to think; to consider; to feel |
| 学 | xué | to learn; to study; to imitate; science; -ology |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 容 | Róng | surname Rong |
| 易 | Yì | surname Yi; I Ching; Book of Changes (abbr. for 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]) |
| 用不着 | yòng bu zháo | not need; have no use for |
| 认真 | rèn zhēn | conscientious; earnest; serious; to take seriously; to take to heart |
| 讲 | jiǎng | to speak; to explain; to negotiate; to emphasize; to be particular about; as far as sth is concerned; speech; lecture |
| 解 | Xiè | surname Xie |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 虽然 | suī rán | although; even though (often used correlatively with 可是[ke3 shi4] or 但是[dan4 shi4] etc) |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 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) |
| 那里 | nà li | there; that place |
| 眼睛 | yǎn jing | eye; CL:隻|只[zhi1],雙|双[shuang1] |
| 也好 | yě hǎo | that's fine; may as well; (reduplicated) regardless of whether ... or ... |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble; to be like; to look as if; such as; appearance; image; portrait; image under a mapping (math.) |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 着棋 | zhuó qí | to play chess |
| 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… |
| 可心 | kě xīn | satisfying; to one's liking; to suit sb |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 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 |
| 要是 | yào shi | (coll.) if |
| 现 | xiàn | to appear; present; now; existing; current |
| 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… |
| 野外 | yě wài | countryside; areas outside the city |
| 射 | shè | old variant of 射[she4]; to shoot; to launch; to allude to; radio- (chemistry) |
| 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 … |
| 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 … |
| 只 | zhī | variant of 隻|只[zhi1]; variant of 只[zhi3]; grain that has begun to ripen; classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 鸿雁 | hóng yàn | (bird species of China) swan goose (Anser cygnoides) |
| 美餐 | měi cān | tasty meal; to eat a satisfying meal |
| 顿 | dùn | to stop; to pause; to arrange; to lay out; to kowtow; to stamp (one's foot); at once; classifier for meals, beatings, scoldings etc: time, bout, spell, meal |
| 该 | gāi | should; ought to; probably; must be; to deserve; to owe; to be sb's turn to do sth; that; the above-mentioned |
| 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- |
| 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); (… |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 总 | zǒng | (bound form) general; overall; to sum up; in every case; always; invariably; anyway; after all; eventually; sooner or later; surely; (after a person's name) abbr. for 總經理|总经理[zong3… |
| 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] |
| 胡 | Hú | surname Hu; used in 衚衕|胡同[hu2 tong4]; beard; mustache; whiskers |
| 思 | sī | to think; to consider |
| 乱 | luàn | in confusion or disorder; in a confused state of mind; disorder; upheaval; riot; illicit sexual relations; to throw into disorder; to mix up; indiscriminate; random; arbitrary |
| 焉 | ||
| 一点 | yī diǎn | a bit; a little bit; (used in negative expressions) (not) the least bit; (after an adjective, used to form the comparative) a bit more, -er; a point (in a discussion etc); (calligr… |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 听 | yǐn | smile (archaic); to listen to; to hear; to heed; to obey; a can (loanword from English "tin"); classifier for canned beverages; to let be; to allow (Taiwan pr. [ting4]); (literary) to administer; t… |
| 进去 | jìn qù | to go in |
| 结 | jiē | (of a plant) to produce (fruit or seeds); Taiwan pr. [jie2] |
| 果 | guǒ | fruit; result; resolute; indeed; if really |
| 同 | tóng | like; same; similar; together; alike; with; used in 衚衕|胡同[hu2 tong4] |
| 名 | míng | name; noun (part of speech); place (e.g. among winners); famous; classifier for people |
| 传 | chuān | to pass on; to transmit; to transfer; to conduct (electricity) |
| 授 | shǒu | (bound form) to confer; to give; (literary) to appoint |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 进步 | jìn bù | progress; improvement; to improve; to progress |
| 快 | kuài | rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; plainspoken; gratified; pleased; pleasant |
| 成了 | chéng le | to be done; to be ready; that's enough!; that will do! |
| 强 | qiāng | strong; powerful; vigorous; better; to force (qiang3); stubborn (jiang4); surname Qiang |
| 名手 | míng shǒu | master; famous artist or sportsman |
| 学到 | xué dào | to learn (sth); to learn about |
| 本事 | běn shì | source material; original story |
Long ago there was a chess master named Qiu whose chess skills were superlative.
Qiu had two students who studied chess with him, one student studied with concentrated focus and energy. The other, however, wasn’t like that, he thought studying chess was very easy, and there was no need to take it seriously. When the teacher was explaining, although the [the student] sat there, his eyes seemed to be on the chess pieces, he was actually thinking: “If I go to the countryside right now and shoot a goose, I’ll have a lovely dinner.” Because he was always indulging in flights of fancy and absent-mindedness, nothing the teacher said ever sunk in.
As a result, although the two students studied were taught at the same time by the same master, one improved quickly and became a superior chess player, while the other never learned much at all.