外强中干Out wardly Strong but Inwardly Weak

Out wardly Strong but Inwardly Weak（成语 外强中干 英文）


The Earl of Qin was attacking the Marquisate of Jin....After defeating it in three battles, he reached the place called Han.(1)

Marquis Jin said to his minister Qing Zheng."The enemy has now entered deep into our territory. What shall we do?"

"It was you yourself who invited their incursion into our domain.(2) There is nothing we can do now," replied Qing Zheng.

The Marquis reproached Qing Zheng for his imprudence and sought help from divination to decide who would be the Right Guard in command of the charioteers. The oracle was in favour of Qing Zheng but the Marquis refused to appoint him for that post. Instead he asked Bu Yang to take command and Jia Putu to be the Right Guard; the latter, however,after taking over the command, chose to use small chariots drawn by teams of four horses brought from the State of Zheng.

Seeing this,Qing Zheng pleaded to the Marquis,"Our forefathers whenever they dealt with an important affair like going to way only used horses of our own breed. Such animals are native-born and know the mind of the native riders;they obey their orders and are familiar with the local roads: therefore, no matter how you use them, they will always meet your purpose. Now we are using alien-bied horses in the war; they will be apprehensive and go against our intention. And apprehension causes uneven breathing, disturbs the spirit,swells the chest quickens the circulation of the blood and imtates the nerves. The horses may look strong but they are actually weak;they will find themselves lost,not knowing which way to turn-going forward or backward, this way or that way. I am sure you will regret your decision." The Marquis, however, refused to listen to him.

On the day of Renxu(3),the Qin and the Jin troops fought at Han. And it turned out that Jin's war horses could only go round and round, bogged down in deep mire. The Marquis then cried to Qing Zheng for help.

"You were adamant in refusing to listen to my remonstration and you disobeyed the oracle,so you have brought about your own defeat. Why should you now try to escape your fate?" Qing Zheng said,and left the Marquis to himself.

Liang Youmi was then driving the chariot for Han Jian,and Guo She became the Right Guard. They encountered the Duke of Qin on the way and were going to stop him when Qing Zheng came to ask them to go and save the Marquis. So, they missed the chance of capturing the duke.

In the end, Qin captured the Marquis and its army returned to their own state in triumph.

____________remark_____________
(1) The story took place in the Spring and Autumn Period(770-476 BC) and Han was place in present-day Shanxi Province.
(2) The reason was that Jin had promised to give Qin five cities in gratitude for Qin's helping the Marquis of Jin to assume the tule of the had a famine, Qing Zheng asked the Marquis to give aid for teller,but his proposal was unheeded, hence the war.
(3) the 13th day of the 9th month in the 15th year of the reign of Lu Xiaong,Duke of the State of Lu.

外强中干(chinese idioms)

　　三败及韩。晋侯谓庆郑曰：“寇深矣，若之何？”对曰：“君实深之，可若何？”公曰：“不孙。”卜右，庆郑吉，弗使。步扬御戎，家仆徒为右，乘小驷，郑入也。庆郑曰：“古者大事，必乘其产，生其水土而知其人心，安其教训而服习其道，唯所纳之，无不如志。今乘异产，以从戎事，及惧而变，将与人易。乱气狡愤，阴血周作，张脉偾兴，外强中干。进退不可，周旋不能，君必悔之。”弗听。

　　壬戌，战于韩原，晋戎马还泞而止。公号庆郑。庆郑曰：“愎谏违卜，固败是求，又何逃焉？”遂去之。梁由靡御韩简，虢射为右，辂秦伯，将止之。郑以救公误之，遂失秦伯。秦获晋侯以归.

外强中干,形容外表强壮,内里空虚。