{"product_id":"2940013518469","title":"Chinese Idiom Stories (Volume 3): Stories from Chinese history, philosophy, culture and art of war that can add wisdom to your business, your career, your relationship, your parenting and your life!","description":"SNEAK PEAK:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChinese Idiom Stories (Volume 3): Stories from Chinese history, philosophy, culture and art of war that can add wisdom to your business, your career, your relationship, your parenting and your life!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTable of Contents\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePutting the finishing touch to the picture of a dragon\u003cbr\u003eGive up halfway\u003cbr\u003eA broken mirror joined together\u003cbr\u003eThe fox is sad at the death of the hare\u003cbr\u003eHis spear against his shield\u003cbr\u003eSingle- hearted devotion\u003cbr\u003eTo begin to dig a well when feeling thirsty\u003cbr\u003eGoing South by Driving the Chariot North\u003cbr\u003eTo Hang Books On The Ox's Horn\u003cbr\u003eTo Attract Jade by Laying Bricks\u003cbr\u003eEverything is Ready Except the East Wind\u003cbr\u003eDoing It Right\u003cbr\u003eHeard On The Street And Spoken of In The Road\u003cbr\u003eHeaven's Clothes Have No Stitches\u003cbr\u003eAn Armchair Strategist\u003cbr\u003eThe Dagger Shows Up At The End Of The Map Scroll\u003cbr\u003eHe Looked Like The Ax Thief\u003cbr\u003eThe Man of Qi who Worried That the Sky Would Fall\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePutting the finishing touch to the picture of a dragon\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the Southern and Northern Dynasties Period, there was a painter called Zhang Sengyou. Once he visited a temple and painted on the wall four dragons, but gave none of them eyes. The onlookers felt that this was odd, and asked why he had not painted the eyes. He answered, ‘Eyes are crucial for dragons. With the eyes painted on , the dragons would fly away.’ Nobody believed this, so Zhang Zengyou took up his brush and added eyes to two of the dragons. No sooner had he finished than the two dragons flew into the sky amid a thunderstorm. The two without eyes stayed painted on the wall. This idiom is used to describe how, when writing or speaking, one or two key sentences will enhance the contents.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGive up halfway\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring the Warring States Period (475-221BC), there was a man called Yue Yangzi in State Yue. One day he saw a piece of gold on the road and picked it up. He took it home and gave it to his wife. But his wife was not happy. The virtuous woman said,\u003cbr\u003e\"I hear that a man of morality doesn't drink a thief's water and a man of probity refuses to accept alms. What do you think of the action of picking up another's lost valuable and possessing it for one's own?\" \u003cbr\u003eYue Yangzi, feeling ashamed, sent the gold back to where he found it.\u003cbr\u003eThe next year, Yue Yangzi felt that he should go out and visit scholars to enrich his knowledge. So he set off.\u003cbr\u003eA year later, he came back home suddenly.\u003cbr\u003e\"Why have you returned?\" asked his wife in surprise, \"You've only spent one year studying with scholars.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"I come back because I missed you very much.\"\u003cbr\u003eWithout saying anything, his wife took a pair of scissors and went to the loom at which she had worked. Pointing at the half done brocade, she proclaimed,\u003cbr\u003e\"This brocade is woven from the finest silk. I wove one strand after another to produce the brocade. Now if I cut it, all my previous work will be wasted. It's the same with your studies. You can acquire knowledge only through diligence. Now, you've stopped halfway. Isn't it the same as cutting the brocade on the loom?\"\u003cbr\u003eYue Yangzi was moved by what she said. He again left home to visit scholars. Several years later he became a learned man. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA broken mirror joined together\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), there lived a beautiful, intelligent princess name Lechang in the State Chen. She and her husband Xu Deyan loved each other dearly.\u003cbr\u003eBut before long their country was in danger of being invaded by the troops of the Sui Dynasty. Princess Lechang and Xu Deyan had a premonition that their county would be occupied by the invaders and they would have to leave the palace and go into exile. During the chaos they might lose touch with each other. They broke a bronze mirror, a symbol of the unity of husband and wife into two parts and each of them kept a half. They agreed that each would take their half of the mirror to the fair during the Lantern Festival, which is on the 15th day of the first Lunar month, in the hope that would meet again. When they were united the two halves would join together. Soon their premonition came true.\u003cbr\u003eDuring the chaos of war, the princess lost touch with her husband was taken to a powerful minister Yang Su's house and was made his mistress. \u003cbr\u003eAt the Lantern Festival the next year, Xu Deyan took his half of the mirror to the fair. He hoped that he could meet his wife. It so happened that a servant was selling the other half of the bronze mirror. Xu Deyan recognized it immediately. He asked the servant about his wife. As he heard about her bitter experience, tears rolled down his cheeks. Xu Deyan wrote a poem on the half of the mirror kept by his wife: \"You left me with your broken mirror. Now the mirror is back but not you I can no longer see your reflection in the mirror, only the bright moon but not you.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTO BE CONTINUED... Buy now and enjoy all the stories!","brand":"eBook4Life","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47173552111856,"sku":"2940013518469","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013518469_p0.jpg?v=1763582394","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013518469","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}