A Disease in the Vital Organs

Characters:

Pronunciation: Xin(1) Fu(4) Zhi(1) Huan(4)

Explanation: Meaning a hidden danger or disaster.

The Story: The states of Wu and Yue were constantly at rivalry towards the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. In one of their wars, the army of Wu surrounded Guaji (today's Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province), the capital of Yue, and Gou Jian, the king of Yue, surrendered to Fu Chai, the king of Wu, and sued for peace. Outwardly Gou Jian was obedient, but he secretly plotted for revenge and for restoring his country.

Later, when the state of Wu was making preparations for an attack against the state of Qi, Gou Jian came with his ministers to pay respect to Fu Chai. He said many flattering words and presented the Wu king with expensive gifts. Wu Zixu, a ranking official of Wu who had always been on guard against the state of Yue, saw the real motive of Gou Jian, which was to pretend friendly and make Fu Chai attack Qi. He tried hard to warn Fu Chai, saying:" the conquest of Qi means winning a stretch of land as barren as a rock. But to us the state of Yue is like a disease in the vital organs." But Fu Chai refused to take his advice. As it was expected, the state of Wu was later defeated by the state of Yue and Fu Chai committed suicide. From then on, the revenge between Wu and Yue went on and on.

Usage Example (Pinyin): ta(1) shi(4) ni(3) men(2) gong(1) si(1) de xin(1) fu(4) zhi(1) huan(4), yin(1) wei(4) wo(3) jue(2) de ta(1) jiu(4) shi(4) shang(1) ye(4) jian(4) die(2).

Usage Example (English translation): He is a disease in the vital organs of your company as I think the business spy is him.

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.