We are not related(風馬牛不相及)
The Zhou Dynasty in China was a feudal
dynasty.
(Ji Dan) was the most outstanding statesman
in the early Zhou Dynasty.
He established the feudal system of the
Zhou Dynasty.
He divided the territory of the Zhou
Dynasty among the various nobles.
Each nobleman is king in his own territory.
The common king of these nobles is the king of the Zhou Dynasty.
They had to pay a certain amount of money
and materials every year to the king of the Zhou Dynasty.
This system originally worked very well,
but as time changed, each noble developed differently, some nobles prospered,
and some nobles declined.
The Zhou Dynasty's control over these
nobles also declined day by day.
During the period from 679 BC to 643 BC,
the Qi Kingdom became the most powerful kingdom among all the nobles.
On the surface, the king of the Qi Kingdom
still respected the king of the Zhou Dynasty, but in fact he was the most
powerful man in China at that time.
In order to show his strength, the king of
Qi Kingdom sent troops to attack the Kingdom of Chu in 656 BC together with
many kingdoms.
The two armies faced off.
The Kingdom of Chu sent an envoy to
negotiate with the coalition forces he led.
The messenger of the Chu kingdom said to
the king of the Qi kingdom.
The Kingdom of Qi is in Shandong Province
in northern China, and the Kingdom of Chu is in Hubei Province in southern
China.
Our two kingdoms are very far apart, and
our people have almost no communication.
Nor are we like some neighbouring kingdoms
who have disputes over good pastures when grazing cattle or horses.
There is no enmity between our two
kingdoms, and our two kingdoms are not related.
Why did you lead the coalition to attack us?
The King of Qi Kingdom said.
We are the king representing the Zhou
Dynasty, our common leader, to attack you.
Because you have not paid tribute for a
long time, the king of the Zhou Dynasty gave me this power to attack you.
The messenger of the Chu Kingdom heard this
answer.
He knew it was just an excuse.
They attacked the Kingdom of Chu under the
guise of the king of the Zhou Dynasty. in order to capture more resources.
But he did not directly pierce the lies of
the king of Qi Kingdom.
The messenger said with a smile.
That's why you want to attack us.
Our king must be too busy, so he forgot
about it.
I immediately went back to remind our king.
We'll make up all the tributes right away.
After the messenger finished saying this,
he put away his smile and said it very seriously.
The military training of our Kingdom of Chu
is very solid, we have a strong fortress, and we have the Han River as our
natural moat.
If you attack us, we will resist with all
our strength. You may not necessarily be victorious.
The king of Qi Kingdom was silent.
The messenger of the Chu Kingdom said at
this time.
Peace is the most important thing, and war
will cause great loss to you and me.
We hope that the status quo can be
maintained, please give it some more thought.
The King of Qi Kingdom weighed the pros and
cons and announced to give up this attack.
This idiom means that people or things have
nothing to do with each other.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Have you experienced war? If you were the
king of Qi Kingdom, how would you choose?
I hope this story will give you something
new to gain.
風馬牛不相及(We are not related)
中國的周王朝是一個封建王朝。
(姬旦)是周王朝初期最傑出的政治家。
他建立了周王朝的封建制度。
他把周王朝的領土分給各個貴族。
各個貴族在自己的領地各自稱王。而這些貴族的共同國王就是周王朝的國王。
他們必須每年進貢一定的金錢與物資給周王朝的國王。
這套制度原本運行的非常好，但隨著時間的改變，各個貴族發展不同，有些貴族興旺，有些貴族衰微。
而周王朝對於這些貴族的控制力也逐日下滑。
西元前679到西元前643年這段期間內，齊王國成為所有貴族中最有實力的一個王國。
齊王國的國王表面上是還是很尊敬周王朝的國王，但實際上他是當時中國最有權力的人。
齊王國的國王為了展示自已的實力，他於西元前656年聯合許多王國一起派兵攻打楚王國。
兩軍對峙。
楚王國派出一個使者，與他所率領的聯軍談判。
楚王國的使者對齊王國的國王說。
齊王國在中國北方的山東省，楚王國在中國南方的湖北省。
我們兩個王國的距離非常的遙遠，我們的人民幾乎沒有往來。
我們也不像有些相鄰的王國，因為放牧牛或馬時，為了爭奪好的牧場因而產生糾紛。
我們兩個王國並沒有冤仇，我們兩個王國並不相干。
你為何率領聯軍來攻打我們呢。
齊王國的國王說。
我們是代表周王朝的國王，也就是我們共同的領袖來攻打你。
因為你們長期不納貢，所以周王朝的國王賦予我這個權力來攻打你。
楚王國的使者聽到這個回答。
他很清楚這只是一個藉口。
他們假借周王朝的國王的名義來攻打楚王國。為了要奪取更多的資源。
但他沒有直接戳破齊王國的國王的謊言。
這個使者笑著說。
原來這就是你們要攻打我們的原因。
我們國王一定是太忙了，所以他忘記了這件事情。
我立刻回去提醒我們的國王。我們會立刻補齊所有的貢品。
這個使者說完這句話後他收起笑容並很嚴肅的說。
我們楚王國的軍隊訓練很確實，我們有堅強的堡壘，我們有漢水這條河作為我們天然的護城河。
你們若攻打我們，我們會全力抵抗。你們不一定可以得勝。
齊王國的國王沉默了。
楚王國的使者這時候說。
和平是最重要的，戰爭對你我都會造成極大的損失。
我們希望可以保持現狀，請你們再多考慮一下。
齊王國的國王權衡得失後宣布放棄這一次的進攻。
這句成語的意思是人或事物之間彼此毫不相干。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你是否經歷過戰爭呢?你如果是齊王國的國王你會如何選擇呢?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為左傳-僖公四年-