Man
of Wood with a Heart of Stone
| Characters: |
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Pronunciation:
Mu(4) Ren(2) Shi(2) Xin(1)
Explanation:
Said of a man of strong will unmoved by temptations.
The Story: Grand Councellor Jia Chong
of the Western Jin was once on a excursion
admiring spring scenery in the capital Luoyang.
Suddenly, he saw a strange man sitting in
a small boat near the bank of a river. Solemn
in expression, the man seemed to be quite
unperturbed by the sights and noises around
him. The man was in fact named Xia Tong, a
hermit who detested the vulgar practices of
the mundane world and was determined to preserve
his own purity. His mother was seriously ill
and he had come to the capital to buy medicine.
Jia
Chong started to talk with this man and found
that Xia Tong was a man of lofty ideals, talented
and having no desire for honour and glory,
he told Xia that he would like to recommend
him for an official post. Xia suddenly became
angry and refused to talk with him anymore
after hearing it. Jia Chong thought: "Well,
how can a man not be tempted by position,
honour and women?" So he called over
a bevy of beautiful women, who began to sing
and dance around Xia Tong. But Xia was quite
unmoved, sitting steadily in the boat with
an expression of indifference on his face.
Jia Chong then said to his followers: "This
fellow is really a man of wood with a heart
of stone." Saying so, he had no alternative
but to depart.
Usage
Example (Pinyin): zhi(3) you(3) mu(4)
ren(2) shi(2) xin(1) de ren(2) bu(3) hui(4)
bei(4) ta(1) de hua(4) gan(3) dong(4).
Usage
Example (English translation): Only a
man of wood with a heart of stone would not
be touched by her words.
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
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