Cao Xuan (Cao Cao's son)

Transcription

"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a classic Chinese well-known by many households. In a section of this novel, there is a description of Liu Bei's visit to the most famous military strategist in Chinese history, Zhuge Liang. This story is very well written and fascinating; the characters are also depicted very lifelike. As time passes, this legend evolved into a familiar idiom known by many people. it has a big influence on the history of world literature. This is the story of "Three Visits". Welcome to the 9th episode of Learning Chinese Idioms with Steven. To have a good understanding of the Chinese idioms can help grasp the essence of the Chinese language, discover the Chinese history and taste the Chinese culture. In this episode, I will teach you this idiom: "Three Visits". Let me explain what this idiom implies: In order to achieve our pursuits, we humbly ask for advice from others and sincerely seek assistance from the experts. People who are familiar with Chinese history and iterature understand this story really well. Behind this idiom is a true and interesting story. After this novel was passed from generations to generations, it set an example for people to behave sincerely. This idiom involves several famous people from the Three Kingdoms Era of Chinese history, such as the great military strategist, Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei the emperor of Shu Han Dynasty, Guan Yu and Hang Fei. The story behinds this idiom is also closely related to "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", one of China's four major literary classics. It is written by Luo Guanzhong, a writer from the Ming Dynasty. The author depicted this fiction, "Three Visits" in a very detailed and moving way. Now let me tell you the story of "Three Visits". The story happened in the end of Eastern Han Dynasty which was also the beginning era of the Three Kingdoms. At that time, disputes prevailed across different regions; Liu Bei revolted to bring peace into the chaos world. After he was defeated by Cao Cao he dreamt of making a comeback to fulfill his wish to bring peace to the world. In order to fulfil our wishes and pursue our ideal careers, we need assistance from others. Although Liu Bei had no shortage of Generals, he lacked wise Counselors, in other words, a military strategist. A man named Xu Shu told Liu Bei that there was a genius man called Zhuge Liang who lived in Long Zhong, which is today's Xiangyang in Hubei Province. Zhuge Liang knew geography and military strategies very well. If Lui Bei could get his help, he will be able to rule the world. After listening to Xu Shu's advise, Lui Bei became sworn brothers with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. They bought a gift and went to visit Zhuge Liang in Long Zhong. When they arrived, they found out Zhuge Liang just left home and went to travel; even his housemate didn't know when he would be coming back, so the three of them returned home. After a while, Lui Bei planned to visit Zhuge Liang again, Guan Yu suggested they shouldn't go as Zhuge Liang might not be worthy of his reputation and not as talented according to the legend. Zhang Fei knew Lui Bei really wanted Zhuge Liang's help, so he suggested to go alone and captured Zhuge Liang. Lui Bei blamed them and said; we want to recruit talent, how can we not show any sincerity? Afterwards, the three of them travelled in the snow and arrived at Zhuge Liang's home. Liu Bei saw a young man studying and rushed to salute him. However, it turned out that the young man was Zhuge Liang's brother. He told Liu Bei that his brother accepted a friend's invitation and went outside. Liu Bei was very disappointed. All he could do was leaving him a letter to express his admiration for Zhuge Liang and eagerness to get his help in order to fulfil his dream to unite the world. After a while, Liu Bei and the others went to visit Zhuge Liang again. This time Zhuge Liang was asleep at home, Liu Bei did not rush to bother him. He stood silently down stairs and let Guan Yu and Zhang Fei wait outside the door. After a very long time, Zhuge Liang woke up, Liu Bei went upstairs and consulted him. Zhuge Liang thought Liu Bei was humble, had great ideals and aspirations. He was also moved by Lui Bei's sincerity. So he gave Liu Bei his analysis of the world's situation, both of them discussed this in-depth and the direction of future development. As Liu Bei listened to Zhuge Liang's advises, he thought Zhuge Liang really deserved the reputation as the rare talent. He admired him so much and continued to sincerely ask for his assistance. Zhuge Liang was so impressed by Liu Bei's genuineness, so he agreed to be Liu Bei's military advisor and help built his empire. Zhuge Liang was only 27 years old that year. Under the guidance of Zhuge Liang, Lui Bei finally fulfilled his ambition and established Shu Han dynasty which marked the beginning era of the Three Kingdoms in Chinese History Later, the story in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" turned Lui Bei's three visits to Zhuge Liang into this idiom "Three Visits". Although it has some fictional elements, it does contain true facts. In Zhuge Liang's famous article "Chu Shi Biao" recorded this matter. Zhuge Liang wrote: Founding emperor, Liu Bei, in order to fulfill his political ambitions, he did not despise my inferiority but sincerely visited my cottage three times and humbly asked me to discuss world problems with him. I was so moved that I agreed to went on an expedition with Liu Bei and gave him strategies to fulfil his aspiration. Liu Bei's courteousness, his pursuit of wisdom and his eagerness to seek advises from Zhuge Liang, had a tremendous impact to later generations, making him a respectable talent and role model. Therefore "Three Vistis" became an expression of someone humbly asking for help from people of all backgrounds. Thank for watching, see you next time.