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China’s first emperor Qin Shihuang died in 209 BC. Shortly after his death, a treacherous eunuch named Zhao Gao enticed Huhai, the emperor’s youngest son, to kill his oldest brother, the successor to the throne, and helped him to become emperor. Later the young emperor killed all his remaining 12 brothers and ten sisters on the suggestion of Zhao Gao in order to consolidate his position. After that, Zhao Gao, through intrigue, killed the prime minister and took over his post.

The young emperor Huhai was a muddle-headed and incompetent ruler. Zhao Gao could do whatever he liked. He became so ambitious that he finally plotted to usurp the throne. But he was afraid that the other court officials wouldn’t obey him. To test whether or not they were loyal to him, Zhao Gao presented a stag to the young emperor one day and deliberately said it was a horse.

“Are you kidding?” the young emperor laughed. “You’re calling a stag a horse!”

Zhao Gao insisted that it was a horse. He then asked the other officials’ opinion. He said, in a threatening tone, “I said it was a horse. What would you say?”

Some officials kept silent because they were afraid of being persecuted by Zhao Gao. Some said yes just to flatter him. “Yes, your Highness, it’s a horse”. “It’s nothing but a horse.” But there were upright officials who spoke the truth. In the end, none of these officials could escape persecution by Zhao Gao.

(Source: english.cri.cn)

画龙点睛 (Huà Lóng Diǎn Jīng) means adding eyeballs to the picture of a dragon to bring it to life, which is to put the finishing touches to something.

Legend has it that during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, about 1,500 years ago, there was a famous painter named Zhang.

He was good at painting people, animals, landscapes and the Buddha. His paintings were vivid and true to life. People said that the animals he drew could come out of the picture as soon as he gave them the finishing touches. To make sure, a large group of people gathered in a temple one day to see Zhang paint dragons.
Zhang painted four dragons on the wall. All of them were lifelike but didn’t have eyes. The watchers were puzzled and asked him why.
“If I draw the eyes, the dragons will fly off the wall.” Zhang replied.

“He’s just talking big!” some people thought.

Half believing and half doubting, the onlookers insisted that he add eyes to the dragons.

Urged on by the crowd, Zhang added eyeballs to two of the dragons.

In the twinkling of an eye, it turned dark and began raining hard. (Thunder) Accompanied by thunder and lightning, the two dragons started to move and soon flew into the sky. The two other dragons without eyes remained on the wall.

(Source: english.cri.cn)

一鼓作气 (yì gǔ zuò qì)

Get something done in one go

During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), the State of Qi launched a war against the State of Lu. Qi had a stronger army than Lu. The king of Lu and his general Cao Gui led the army to meet Qi’s invading troops head-on. The two sides confronted with each other at Changshao.

The King of Lu was about to order his troops to take the offensive when Cao Gui stopped him.

“Not yet,” Cao Gui said. They stepped onto a high stage to observe Qi’s battle formation.

At this time, Qi’s troops charged head-on accompanied by vigorous drum beats.

The King of Lu wanted to rebut the charge but Cao Gui stopped him again.

After the while, the Qi army’s war drums sounded another charge. Again, Cao Gui stopped the King of Lu’s advance.

The Qi soldiers’ morale dwindled after two vain advance attempts. They regrouped for a third attack. The King of Lu took Cao Gui’s advice not to throw his troops into the battle and waited for an opportune moment.

After three charges without any battle, the morale of the Qi soldiers had greatly declined. They were also tired and sat down to rest.

“Now, the time has come!” Cao Gui said to his king who then gave the order. Now, Lu army’s war drums rolled thunderously and the soldiers valiantly charged the enemy. The Qi soldiers fled helter-skelter and the weaker Lu army eventually won the battle.

Originally, 一鼓作气 (yì gǔ zuò qì) means “The fighting spirit aroused by the first roll of drums is the highest”. Later people use it to say “ to press on to the finish without letup” or “ to have something done in a determined burst of energy”.

(Source: english.cri.cn)