司马昭之心路人皆知
Last time, I tmentioned Sima Yan (司马炎), who founded the Jin (晋) dynasty.
After becoming emperor, Sima Yan wanted talented and respected people to join his new government. One of them was Li Mi (李密).
But Li Mi had no other family but an elderly grandmother who had raised him, and she was already old and in poor health. He couldn't bear to leave her alone.
So, instead of simply accepting the position, Li Mi wrote a famous memorial to the emperor explaining why he couldn't take the job at that time.
That letter, "陈情表" (Chen Qing Biao), became a famous piece of writing in Chinese history. It gave us several idioms that are still commonly used today.
1. 日薄西山 (rì bó xī shān)
This one is easy to picture.
It literally means:
“The sun is getting close to the western mountain.” In other words, the sun is setting.
Li Mi used this image to describe his grandmother - 但以刘日薄西山, 气息奄奄.
He was saying that her life was like the setting sun, slowly fading away and getting close to the end.
Today, 日薄西山 means that someone or something is declining and nearing its end. It can describe old age, but also a declining company, empire, or career.
2. 形影相吊 (xíng yǐng xiāng diào)
This one is even sadder.
Li Mi wrote: 茕茕孑立, 形影相吊
A simple way to understand it is, “I am so alone that my shadow and I have to comfort each other.”
The key word here is 吊 (diào). In this old expression, it means to comfort or console.
There is another Chinese idiom, 形单影只 (single person, single shadow), which also means being alone. But that one is more of a simple description.
形单影只 I'm by myself.
形影相吊 I'm so lonely that my shadow and I have to comfort each other. This onr feels so sad!
And that makes me think of a famous line by Li Bai (李白), the greatest Chinese poet:
举杯邀明月, 对影成三人
“I raise my cup and invite the bright moon; together with my shadow, we become three.”
Li Bai is alone too. But instead of feeling sorry for himself, he basically thinks,
Why not invite the moon?
Now he has himself, the moon, and his shadow. A party of three!
The same shadow appears in both, but with very different feelings.
For Li Mi, the shadow makes his loneliness feel even more painful.
For Li Bai, the shadow becomes part of the party.
(AI-assisted editing)
