Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).
That'd be 62.5, not 56.5. Arrows everywhere.
On reflection, I probably shouldn't say 'he's arrived.' He's found a secure place that offers him important work. Not necessarily the ultimate expression of who he is... though given the following line, that might be just as well.
Dobro:yi yu ming - what's it mean lol?
Does it arise out of the successful shooting of the pheasant, or does the successful shooting of the pheasant arise out of it?
Dobro:
I believe that this is a story on the dexterity of the traveller, but not about the dexterity in archery.
W/B says that the pheasant falls at the first arrow, but the comments are about people established in a strange country and looking for friends.
See the chinese text:
[When] shooting [a] pheasant one arrow [is] lost.
射she4: shoot /
雉zhi4: pheasant /
一yi1: one / single / a /
矢shi3: arrow /
亡wang2: to die / to perish / to lose / lost / to disappear /
終zhong1: end / finish /
以yi3: to use / according to / so as to / in order to / by / thereby / with / because /
譽yu4: reputation / reputable /
命ming4: life / fate /
Ending thereby [in a] reputable life.
The chinese text don't say that the pheasant was reached by the arrow , BUT THAT THE AROW WAS LOST.
An arrow isn't a bullet, isn't a cartridge, if you get the target you don't miss the arrow, you recover it.
The only way to miss an arrow is shooting it far from you, were you cann't recover it.
The wanderer failed the shot with the true purpose of getting a friend, the grateful pheasant. And everybody knows that a grateful animal grants luck, wealth and love.
Wilhelm knows it but he concealed the meaning of the story. Who should want to be at the service of anybody (although a prince) when he could be lucky, rich and loved ?
SAVE THE PHEASANTS !
Charly
but there's nothing to stop one parsing the line as 'with one arrow, it perishes' as far as I can see.
yi yu ming - what's it mean lol?
Does it arise out of the successful shooting of the pheasant, or does the successful shooting of the pheasant arise out of it?
(I'm a bit late because there was a problem with Bella and Luis' dragon. But Bella is safe now and Luis' house burnt down. 56.3! )
Hilary:I'm absolutely all in favour of saving pheasants (though they're such stupid birds it'd be hard work), but there's nothing to stop one parsing the line as 'with one arrow, it perishes' as far as I can see. Also, you don't get wealth and luck in response, but praise and a job. Sorry, I think this is a dead pheasant.
Traveling statesman were in the habit of introducing themselves to local princes with the gift of a pheasant, killing it at the first shot. Thus he finds friends who praise and recommend him, and in the end the prince accepts him and confers an office upon him.
W/B
射she4 雉zhi4 。
一yi1 矢shi3 亡wang2 。
終zhong1以yi3 譽yu4 命ming4 。
parsing from Harvard Yenching
- While pheasan shooting he loses an arrow. (Blofeld)
- He shot a pheasant with one arrow. It disappeared. (Rick Kunst)
- He shots a pheasant losing an arrow.(K.Huang)
- Shoots a pheasant. One arrow vanishes. (Wu Jing-Nuan)
- This one has but an arrowto shot at a pheasant. Although it is lost in the end, because of his reputation, he is given an appointment. (R.Lynn)
Wilhelm does note in Section III that Chu Hsi uses the interpretation that the arrow is lost...
... A modern CSI would certainly take the time and high technology to recover the spent arrows, but it was obvious to the ancient hunters, and if there were trees or rocks in the area, it could be damaged even if available to recover.
...I am unaware of anything in Chinese or pheasant thinking where a pheasant would be grateful to be shot at and missed at all, and especially to shower riches upon the shooter. Do pheasants really control jobs and social reputations? Overall these pheasants would have been dead in any event, shot or not, millennia ago.
... There is a long and venerated (at least amongst its ilk) tradition of focusing upon the words to the exclusion of the meaning. Clinging to the one interpretation of the ancient Chinese term as "lost" to the exclusion of other viable translations, and then constructing the meaning of the entire text to highlight that special possibility is a great example of textual analysis of that ilk.
... the magically good timing that enables the sense of "take off" or getting to a higher level.
Oops, just found where the pheasant also was a symbol of authority, so maybe Martin's right about the king.
Hey! Are you with the Cow Liberation Army? That is my own cow!! I was expecting something like this from you. That's why I gave your other cow, Dorothy, to Frank...
I don't know really, it just seems to make sense to me to interpret the line in this way. In line 5, the "royal" position, the traveler might very well start to play with the idea of becoming king and the line says "no, that's not possible for a foreigner".
Even if the pheasant doesn't stand for the king it makes sense. Perhaps the pheasant symbolizes the dream of being a king then?
Meng:It's easier to find a good job when you have a good job. If not a good job then a good resume. If not a good resume at least an impressive degree. If not a degree then fire in your eyes. You'll need some sort of pheasant to present.
Meng:The pheasant represented the empress, as one of twelve symbols. Huh, that would fit with the dragon/pheasant complement.
Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).