General Chinese

爱屋及乌 (Àiwūjíwū) Love Me, Love My Dog

In this Chinese idiom “爱屋及乌 (àiwūjíwū) Love me, love my dog,” “爱” means “like” or “love;” “屋” refers to “house;” ”及” is a conjunction which means “and;” ”乌” refers to “乌鸦 (wūyā),” which is “crow.”

“爱屋及乌” is a Chinese idiom originally from a story in history long time ago:

Shāngcháo mò nián, Zhōu Wǔwáng zài Jiāng Shàng (tàigōng) děng rén de bāngzhù xià,
商朝             末   年，    周      武王    在    姜    尚     （太公）    等     人 的    帮助     下，
chūbīng tǎofá Zhòuwáng bìng qǔ dé shènglì.
出兵       讨伐     纣王       并     取 得   胜利。

At the end of Shang dynasty, assisted by his counselor Jiangshang (taigong) and other capable men, King Zhou Wuwang successfully attacked and killed Zhouwang, anotherKing.

Zhòuwáng sǐhòu, Wǔwáng gǎn dào tiānxià bìng méiyǒu āndìng.
纣王           死后， 武王      感   到      天下   并     没有    安定。

After Zhouwang died, Wuwang still felt anxious since the country was still unstable.

Tā wèn Jiāng tàigōng: “Jìnle Yīndū, yīnggāi rúhé ānpái  jiù wángcháo de guānyuán ne?”
他   问     姜    太公：“ 进了 殷都，应该     如何   安排 旧     王朝      的    官员       呢”？

He asked Jiang taigong: “After we enter the capital Yin, how should we deal with Yin’s officers?”

Jiāng tàigōng shuō:  “Wǒ tīngshuō guò zhèyàng de huà—rúguǒ xǐhuān nà gè rén,
姜      太公        说：“我     听说      过    这样     的  话—— 如果   喜欢   那 个 人，
jiù lián tā wūdǐng shàng de wūyā yě xǐhuān;
就 连 他   屋顶       上    的 乌鸦 也 喜欢；
rúguǒ bù xǐhuān nà gè rén, jiù lián tā jiā  de qiángbì hé  líba  yě tǎoyàn.
如果    不 喜欢   那 个 人，就 连 他 家 的   墙壁     和  篱笆 也 讨厌。

Jiang taigong said, “I’ve heard of a saying–if you love a person, you should also love the crows on his roof; if you hate somebody, you should hate the walls and bamboo fences of his house as well.

Jiù shì shuō, shā jìn quánbù dírén, yí gè yě bù liúxià. Dàwáng nǐ kàn zěnmeyàng?”
就 是    说， 杀   尽    全部    敌人，一个 也 不 留下。大王    你  看     怎么样”？

That is to say: eliminate all the hostile elements. How is that, your Majesty?”

Wǔwáng rènwéi bù néng zhèyàng.
武王         认为   不    能      这样。

Wuwang didn’t think it was a good idea.

Zhè shí Zhōugōng shuō dào: ” Wǒ rènwéi yīngdāng ràng tāmen dōu huí dào  zìjǐ   jiā  lǐ,
这     时     周公        说    道：“我   认为      应当      让    他们    都    回 到   自己  家 里，
gèzì gēngzhòng  zìjǐ   de tiándì.”
各自       耕种     自己 的  田地”。

Zhougong then said, “In my opinion, we should ask them to go back home and farm on their own land.”

Wǔwáng tīngle fēicháng gāoxìng, xīn zhōng huòránkāilǎng,  juéde tiānxià kěyǐ āndìng le.
武王         听了    非常        高兴， 心 中          豁然 开朗，   觉得    天下  可以  安定   了。

Wuwang was enlightened and delighted to hear the suggestion. He was confident about future and the stability of the country. 

术语 (Shùyǔ) Glossary:

商朝 (Shāngcháo) Shang dynasty (1600B.C. ~ 1046B.C.): It was the second dynasty in Chinese history after Xia dynasty.

纣王 (Zhòuwáng) Zhouwang: As the last king of Shang dynasty, he was a talented king in Chinese history but became a tyrant later on.

西周 (Xīzhōu) Xizhou dynasty (1046B.C. ~ 771B.C.): After the downfall of Shang dynasty, Xizhou dynasty was established, which was followed by Dongzhou dynasty.

武王 (Wǔwáng) Wuwang: The first king of Xizhou dynasty who led his army to defeat Zhouwan.

姜尚 (Jiāng Shàng) Jiang Shang: A famous statesman and military strategist in Chinese history, who helped Wuwang defeat Zhouwang. He was also called as 姜太公 (Jiāng tàigōng) Jiang taigong.

召公 (Zhāogōng) Zhaogong: As Wuwang’s second younger brother, he played an important role in founding Xizhou dynasty.

周公 (Zhōugōng) Zhougong: An outstanding statesman, military strategist and thinker at the beginning of Xizhou dynasty.

生词 (shēngcí) Vocabulary:

王朝 (wángcháo): n. dynasty

屋顶 (wūdǐng): n. roof

墙壁 (qiángbì): n. wall

篱笆 (líba): n. fence

豁然开朗 (huòránkáilǎng): to be suddenly enlightened

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