Old,
But More Vigorous in Spirit
Characters: |
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Pronunciation:
lao(3) dang(1) yi(4) zhuang(4)
Explanation:
Said of someone who is more spirited when
he/she grows older.
The
Story: In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there
was a man named Ma Yuan. He had been planing
to herd animals in the frontier since he was
young. When he grew up, Ma became a minor
official of a county.
Once
he was sending some prisoners to another location.
He felt pity for them so he set them free,
and then he himself fled to another county
in the north. He herded animals there and
thus his dream came true. He always said:
"If you want to be a great man, the poorer
you are, the firmer in spirit you have to
be; the older you are, the more spirited you
should be."
Later,
Ma Yuan became a famous general of the Eastern
Han Dynasty and contributed to many battles.
Usage
Example (Pinyin): Wo(3) ye(2) ye lao(3)
dang(1) yi(4) zhuang(4)
Usage
Example (English translation): My grandfather
is old but more vigorous in spirit.
Note:
The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4
spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create
those above where after each syllable we tell
you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond
to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to
complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms
newsletter with a good offline study program.