See also: 结草

Chinese edit

 
knot; sturdy; to bear (fruit)
knot; sturdy; to bear (fruit); bond; to tie; to bind
 
grass; straw; draft (of a document)
grass; straw; draft (of a document); careless; rough; manuscript; hasty
trad. (結草)
simp. (结草)

Etymology edit

七月秦桓公輔氏壬午晉侯治兵黎侯輔氏力人魏武子嬖妾武子疾病疾病老人結草婦人先人治命 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
七月秦桓公辅氏壬午晋侯治兵黎侯辅氏力人魏武子嬖妾武子疾病疾病老人结草妇人先人治命 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4th century BCE
Qiū, Qīyuè, Qínhuángōng fá Jìn, cì yú Fǔshì. Rénwǔ, Jìnhóu zhìbīng yú Jì, yǐ lüè Dí tǔ, lì Líhóu ér hái. Jí Luò, Wèi Kē bài Qín shī yú Fǔshì, huò Dù Huí, Qín zhī lìrén yě. Chū, Wèiwǔzǐ yǒu bìqiè, wú zǐ, Wǔzǐ jí, mìng Kē yuē, bì jià shì. Jíbìng zé yuē, bì yǐ wèi xùn. Jí zú, Kē jià zhī, yuē, jíbìng zé luàn, wú cóng qí zhì yě. Jí Fǔ Shì zhī yì, Kē jiàn lǎorén jiécǎo yǐ kàng Dù Huí, Dù Huí zhì ér diān, gù huò zhī. Yè mèng zhī, yuē, yú, ér suǒ jià fùrén zhī fù yě, ěr yòng xiānrén zhī zhìmìng, yú shì yǐ bào. [Pinyin]
(In 594 B.C.E.) during autumn, in the 7th lunar month, Duke Huan of Qin led an expedition against Jin, pitching camp at Fushi (present day Dali County). On (the zodiac day of) Yang Water Horse, Marquis of Jin had been training his army at Ji (south of present day Jishan County), so that he could seize the lands of the Di people. After installing Marquis of Li there, Marquis of Jin returned home (in order to mount a defense against the Qin). However, by the time Marquis of Jin arrived at Luo (present day Luoyang), Wei Ke (of Jin) had already defeated the Qin army at Fushi, taking a powerful man from Qin, named Du Hui, as his prisoner. As it turns out, (Wei Ke's father) Wei Wuzi had a favorite concubine, who was childless. When Wuzi was ill, he instructed Ke, saying that Ke should marry her off. Later, when Wuzi had become gravely ill, Wuzi said that she must be buried alive in his grave. After his father's death, Ke married her off, saying, "My father was gravely ill, so his thinking was muddled; I will abide by the instructions he gave me when he was still in control of his faculties." Later on, during the battle of Fushi, Ke saw an old man making a rope out of grass in order to block Du Hui’s path. Du Hui tripped on the rope and fell. As a result, Ke was able to capture him. That night, Ke had a dream about the old man, who said to him, "I am the father of the woman that you married off. You abided by the instructions that your father gave you when he was still in control of his faculties. I (did) this in order to repay you."(Wiktionary translation)

Pronunciation edit


Verb edit

結草

  1. (literary) to repay a debt (of kindness etc.)

Derived terms edit