Intro
太史公曰：学者多言无鬼神，然言有物。至如留侯所见老父予书，亦可怪矣。高祖离困者数矣，而留侯常有功力焉，岂可谓非天乎？上曰：“夫运筹䇲帷帐之中，决胜千里外，吾不如子房。”
余以为其人计魁梧奇伟，至见其图，状貌如妇人好女。盖孔子曰：“以貌取人，失之子羽。”
留侯亦云。
【索隐述赞】留侯倜傥，志怀愤惋。五代相韩，一朝归汉。进履宜假，运筹神算。横阳既立，申徒作扞。灞上扶危，固陵静乱。人称三杰，辩推八难。赤松愿游，白驹难绊。嗟彼雄略，曾非魁岸。
《史记; 留侯世家》
司马迁著
Trans
Grand Historian's appraisal: The wise may be talkative without deceit, yet his words possess depth. Indeed even the Marquis of Liu was utterly amazed upon receiving his mentor's tome. Whenever Gaozu managed to escape numerous times, credit must go to the Marquis of Liu. Is this not truly heaven's will? As Gaozu had said before: "In terms of planning behind the scenes and securing victory beyond a thousand li, I am truly Zifang's inferior."
I used to think such an individual must have been well built and blessed with magnificent features. Yet upon beholding his portrait, both form and appearance alike resembles more of a comely maiden. To quote Confucius himself: "I have lost a worthy disciple in Ziyu because I judged him by appearance."
Surely such a concept applies to the Marquis of Liu as well.
[Annotations and Praise] The Marquis of Liu can never be restrained, his heart harbouring wrath. For five generations, his family had served the Han state. Yet in an instant, he pledged loyalty to Han. Status and fame nothing more than an illusion, his strategic decisions were nevertheless unerring. When Hengyang was established, the Chancellor became it's strength. Sending aid in Bashang, he managed to pacify Guling. Lauded as one of the Three Talents, he was capable of analysing even the most arduous of circumstances. At home with trees of red pine, this was a white steed untamed. Alas his strategic brilliance was never compatible with his features, for he never had a strong man's build.
《Annals of History; Marquis of Liu》
Written by Sima Qian
Ever wondered whether your dream Japanese bishonen or Korean boy idol is for real? Is it really possible to see an actual bloke looking like a lass? I know androgynous male models are pretty much the vogue now, but it seems that a certain military genius had preempted this trend. You can try imagining this super queer situation:
There's a sport called football, also alternatively known as soccer. You take a look at the famous players both of yore and now. While 'tis true to say there are plenty of horny blokes drooling over Alex Morgan wearing a two piece [1], 'tis arguably truer that many more girls are guilty of infatuation when it comes to Golden Balls and CR7 advertising for Calvin Klein.
Hence imagine the shock in seeing some guy looking more than a tad like a lass sitting at some head coach's left! What is going on? Isn't soccer/football for manly men? Why are we seeing such a sporting abomination taking place at Middlesbrough Football Club? That bloke ain't born to take the pitch, let alone bossing it! [2]
In times of war, it's only natural for leaders to use individuals looking like a soldier to do their respective tasks. Hell, not even that dastardly Chen Ping was deemed as a ladyboy! Ofc I'm not implying anything in terms of literal sexuality, but it seems more than a tad weird seeing someone fair and fragile deciding the fight for his boss.
This is a real life story of somebody used to failure.
This is a real life story of somebody who should be to be a loser.
This is a real life story of somebody detesting restraint.
This is a real life story of somebody blessed with integrity in spite of cynical times.
This is a real life story of an actual genius defined by turbulent times.
If you think your life suck, think again...
I know life is full of hardship. You think your work is not earning you enough $$$, my job only earns me 1K+ in SGD monthly.
You think your friends are a bunch of jerks talking behind your back, I've been through 10+ years of verbal and physical abuse stretching from my late primary schooling years till the end of my full time ITE studies prior to NSF enlistment.
You think your platoon buddies are out to get you, Sorry to say that 90% of my NSF years were spent on piss poor self esteem.
Girlfriend friendzoned you? Sorry, but every girl whom I've taken a liking to from school to Friendster to church have alrdy friendzoned me. [3]
Whining over your ideal romance suddenly gone bust? Sorry, but I'm still waiting for that one girl whose identity I happen to know.
What abt Zhang Liang then?
留侯张良者，其先韩人也。大父开地，相韩昭侯、宣惠王、襄哀王。父平，相厘王、悼惠王。悼惠王二十三年，平卒。卒二十岁，秦灭韩。良年少，未宦事韩。韩破，良家僮三百人，弟死不葬，悉以家财求客刺秦王，为韩报仇，以大父、父五世相韩故。
Trans
The Marquis of Liu, Zhang Liang, was part of the Han state. His grandfather, Kaidi was the adviser to the Zhao Marquis of Han, Xuanhui King and Xiangai King. His father, Ping, aided the Li King and Daohui King. During the twenty third year of Daohui King's reign, Ping died at the age of twenty. It was also then when the Qin state destroyed Han. Liang was young back then, never to have served Han. Upon Han's destruction, Liang's clan was left with merely three hundred men. His younger brother dead without burial, Liang attempted to employ assassins via family wealth. All for the sake of killing the King of Qin in order to avenge his motherland, his motivation mainly due to five previous generations of his family serving Han.
Analysis
The Han state mentioned here has got nothing to do with South Korea. However, we can see an eerie pattern here, namely invasion and imminent subjugation. If you think the Koreans from either end are fiercely patriotic, then you're right. The North Koreans are fiercely loyal to their only god, the South Koreans are super fierce when it comes to defending national dignity. [4]
Zhang Liang's situation was nowhere different. Just as how each and every decent South Korean citizen would want to see the Sewol ferry tragedy coming to a close, likewise Zhang Liang also desired an end to his misery. Given that his father died at the age of twenty, chances are that Zhang Liang was merely a little boy. [5] In fact, Han was the first player to fall under the might of Qin.
One thing which might resonate deeply with the South Koreans is the fact that Han's downfall was a monster of its own making. If the Sewol tragedy was due to irresponsible bastards owning the vessel, then Han's destruction would be down to a major cock up in one-upping Qin. As it turned out, whoever suggesting a major drainage in resources via constructing a major canal was left to be called an idiot. Long story short, the plan backfired spectacularly. Not only did the enemy gain a canal, said enemy actually ended up recouping their losses via actual profit. Apparently, nobody in the Han court was meant to be an economist while Qin had proven itself to be economy savvy.
Can you imagine Toyotomi Hideyoshi conquering the Korean peninsula due to similar circumstances?
How about imagining invaders from the Tang dynasty successfully declaring that same piece of land as part of China?
Thankfully for the Koreans [6], above two questions are meant to be hypothetical, not real.
The most ironic part of this episode? That canal ended being named after that Han engineer sent to drain their resources this way. People call it adding insult to the injury, I call it pushing a wounded man into the Dead Sea.
Imagine how emotional Zhang Liang was when shit happened. [7] Surely he must have felt like shit b/c... well, I guess real life pragmatism must have told him that.And to think my life sucks hard enough alrdy...
To be cont'd b/c I now too ****ing tired liao...
[1]: And to every horny Aussie bloke, there's Ellyse Perry as well.
[2]: If you think I'm j/k, then you're not stupid. If you think I'm for real, then you need to see a shrink. 'Tis alrdy bad enough to see S'poreans being stereotyped, pls don't add any shit to my national misery. Wait, did I use the correct term? vOv
[3]: Thankfully, I've yet to get friendzoned when it comes to my current workplace. Then again. that's because I'm alrdy too ****ing useless to court my fave girl, no matter who she happened to be.
[4]: And to be brutally fair, Sewol-gate was no different from high treason.
[5]: Weirdly enough, that reminded me of a girl whom I got a crush on during Sec 1. Both of us were in the same grade, but she ended up calling me "small/little boy" in a derisive tone. T_T
[6]: Moral of the story? Koreans are especially good in spewing flames, no matter from where.
[7]: Whether he did enter Sasuke mode, howevere, will forever be a question left unanswered.
What abt Zhang Liang then?
留侯张良者，其先韩人也。大父开地，相韩昭侯、宣惠王、襄哀王。父平，相厘王、悼惠王。悼惠王二十三年，平卒。卒二十岁，秦灭韩。良年少，未宦事韩。韩破，良家僮三百人，弟死不葬，悉以家财求客刺秦王，为韩报仇，以大父、父五世相韩故。
《史记; 留侯世家》
司马迁著
Trans
The Marquis of Liu, Zhang Liang, was part of the Han state. His grandfather, Kaidi was the adviser to the Zhao Marquis of Han, Xuanhui King and Xiangai King. His father, Ping, aided the Li King and Daohui King. During the twenty third year of Daohui King's reign, Ping died at the age of twenty. It was also then when the Qin state destroyed Han. Liang was young back then, never to have served Han. Upon Han's destruction, Liang's clan was left with merely three hundred men. His younger brother dead without burial, Liang attempted to employ assassins via family wealth. All for the sake of killing the King of Qin in order to avenge his motherland, his motivation mainly due to five previous generations of his family serving Han.
《Annals of History; Marquis of Liu》
Written by Sima Qian
The Han state mentioned here has got nothing to do with South Korea. However, we can see an eerie pattern here, namely invasion and imminent subjugation. If you think the Koreans from either end are fiercely patriotic, then you're right. The North Koreans are fiercely loyal to their only god, the South Koreans are super fierce when it comes to defending national dignity. [4]
Zhang Liang's situation was nowhere different. Just as how each and every decent South Korean citizen would want to see the Sewol ferry tragedy coming to a close, likewise Zhang Liang also desired an end to his misery. Given that his father died at the age of twenty, chances are that Zhang Liang was merely a little boy. [5] In fact, Han was the first player to fall under the might of Qin.
One thing which might resonate deeply with the South Koreans is the fact that Han's downfall was a monster of its own making. If the Sewol tragedy was due to irresponsible bastards owning the vessel, then Han's destruction would be down to a major cock up in one-upping Qin. As it turned out, whoever suggesting a major drainage in resources via constructing a major canal was left to be called an idiot. Long story short, the plan backfired spectacularly. Not only did the enemy gain a canal, said enemy actually ended up recouping their losses via actual profit. Apparently, nobody in the Han court was meant to be an economist while Qin had proven itself to be economy savvy.
Can you imagine Toyotomi Hideyoshi conquering the Korean peninsula due to similar circumstances?
How about imagining invaders from the Tang dynasty successfully declaring that same piece of land as part of China?
Thankfully for the Koreans [6], above two questions are meant to be hypothetical, not real.
The most ironic part of this episode? That canal ended being named after that Han engineer sent to drain their resources this way. People call it adding insult to the injury, I call it pushing a wounded man into the Dead Sea.
Imagine how emotional Zhang Liang was when shit happened. [7] Surely he must have felt like shit b/c... well, I guess real life pragmatism must have told him that.And to think my life sucks hard enough alrdy...
To be cont'd b/c I now too ****ing tired liao...
[1]: And to every horny Aussie bloke, there's Ellyse Perry as well.
[2]: If you think I'm j/k, then you're not stupid. If you think I'm for real, then you need to see a shrink. 'Tis alrdy bad enough to see S'poreans being stereotyped, pls don't add any shit to my national misery. Wait, did I use the correct term? vOv
[3]: Thankfully, I've yet to get friendzoned when it comes to my current workplace. Then again. that's because I'm alrdy too ****ing useless to court my fave girl, no matter who she happened to be.
[4]: And to be brutally fair, Sewol-gate was no different from high treason.
[5]: Weirdly enough, that reminded me of a girl whom I got a crush on during Sec 1. Both of us were in the same grade, but she ended up calling me "small/little boy" in a derisive tone. T_T
[6]: Moral of the story? Koreans are especially good in spewing flames, no matter from where.
[7]: Whether he did enter Sasuke mode, howevere, will forever be a question left unanswered.
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