A banquet held at Hongmen.(鴻門宴)
The name of the founding king of Han
Dynasty was (Liu Bang).
History books tell a story about him.
Among all the revolutionary armies against
the Qin Dynasty in the last years of the Qin Dynasty, the one with the most
powerful military force was Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu led an army of around 400,000
men.
In 207 BC, the revolutionary army led by
Liu Bang took the lead in attacking and occupying the capital of the Qin
dynasty, ahead of other revolutionary groups.
This incident made (Xiang Yu) dissatisfied.
Xiang Yu wanted to kill Liu Bang.
The news reached Liu Bang. Liu Bang held an
emergency meeting with his key military staff.
They got someone to help them. This man is
Xiang Yu's uncle, and his name is (Xiang Bo).
Xiang Bo agreed to their request.
Xiang Bo told Liu Bang.
Xiang Yu ordered his troops to be stationed
at a place called (Hongmen) outside the capital of the Qin Dynasty.
When I go back today, I will tell Xiang Yu
directly that you do not want to betray him and that you do not want to replace
his position.
But it is not enough for me to intercede on
your behalf.
I will ask Xiang Yu to hold a banquet. You
must come to the banquet tomorrow at noon.
At the banquet tomorrow, you can tell Xiang
Yu in person that you still have great respect for him and that you will obey
his leadership.
Liu Bang nodded in agreement.
In the morning of the next day, Liu Bang
led his men, about 100 in all, to Xiang Yu's military camp.
He said to Xiang Yu
I think you have misunderstood me. We are
all members of the revolutionary army. Our common goal is to overthrow the Qin
dynasty. We are leading our respective armies to fight the Qin army on
different battlefields.
I was lucky. The Qin army I faced was
relatively weak, so I captured and occupied the Qin capital before you.
Xiang Yu replied.
My uncle explained your thoughts to me last
night, and we sat down to eat together and talked while we ate.
The way of eating in China before the Song
Dynasty is not the same as in modern China. Most Chinese restaurants now have a
big round table, and then everyone sits around that table to eat.
The old Chinese way of eating is that each
person at the banquet has a special seat, and there is a small table in front
of each seat. Everyone's food is placed on this small table, and everyone can
only eat the food on the small table in front of them.
The banquet style in ancient China was also
different from today. The seats for the banquet guests were usually arranged
around a room. There will be a square space in the centre of the room
surrounded by seats.
During the banquet, performances are held
in this square space.
Those who attend the banquet can enjoy
these singing or dancing performances while eating.
This banquet was held in (Hongmen) in this
format.
After Xiang Yu, Liu Bang and two of their
respective military staffs were seated around the banquet hall, the banquet
officially began.
This idiom is used to describe a banquet
where the host holds a banquet with a special purpose.
This idiom is used to describe a banquet
where the host has bad intentions, but the guests have to attend.
Dear friend, what inspirations or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
What is the most uncomfortable banquet you
have ever attended? Are there any special rules for formal banquets in your
country?
I hope this story can give you some
inspiration.
鴻門宴(A banquet held at Hongmen.)
漢王朝開國國王的名字叫做(劉邦)。
歷史書上記載了一個關於他的故事。
秦王朝末年的所有反抗秦王朝的革命軍隊中，擁有最強大的軍事力量的人是項羽。項羽領導了一支大約40萬人的軍隊。
西元前207年，劉邦領導的革命軍領先其他革命團體率先攻入並且佔領了秦王朝的首都。
這件事情引起了(項羽)的不滿。
項羽想要殺了劉邦。
這個消息傳到了劉邦的耳中。劉邦與他最重要的軍事參謀開了一個緊急的會議。
他們找了一個人來幫忙。這個人是項羽的叔叔，他的名字叫做(項伯)。
項伯答應了他們的請求。
項伯對劉邦說。
項羽命令他的軍隊駐紮在秦王朝的首都城外一個名字叫做(鴻門)的地方。
我今天回去會直接跟項羽說明你並沒有想要背叛他，你並不想要取代他的地位。
但是單就憑我為你求情並不夠。
我會請項羽舉辦一場宴會，你明天中午必須過來參加這場宴會。
你在明天的宴會中，親自再向項羽清楚說明你仍然非常的尊敬他，你服從他的領導。
劉邦點頭答應。
第二天的上午，劉邦帶著他的部下共大約100人，他們來到項羽的軍營中。
他對項羽說。
我認為你誤會我了，我們都是革命軍的一分子，我們的共同目標就是推翻秦王朝的統治，我們帶領著各自的軍隊再不同的戰場上與秦王國的軍隊對戰。
我比較幸運，我所面對的秦王朝的軍隊的戰力比較弱，所以我比你更早攻下並佔領秦王朝的首都。
項羽回答。
我的叔叔昨天晚上已經對我說清楚你的想法了，我們坐下來一起吃飯，我們邊吃邊聊。
中國在宋王朝以前的吃飯方式與現代的中國並不一樣，現在的中國餐廳大多數是一張很大的圓形桌子，然後所有人圍坐在這張桌子旁邊吃飯。
中國古代的用餐方式是每個參加宴會的人有一個專門的座位，每個座位前有一張小桌子。每個人的餐點會放在這張小桌子上，每個人只能吃自己面前的小桌子上的食物。
中國古代的宴會型態也與現在不太一樣，參加宴會的人的座位通常會被安排在一個房間的四周。被座位所包圍的房間中央會有一個方形空間。
宴會進行時，這個方形空間中會有表演。
這些參加參加宴會的人可以邊吃飯邊欣賞這些唱歌或跳舞的演出。
這一場在(鴻門)舉辦的宴會就是這種形式。
項羽與劉邦還有兩個人各自的軍事參謀被安排坐在這個宴會廳的四周後，這場宴會正式舉開。
這句成語被用來形容一場宴會的主人舉辦了一場有著特殊目的的宴會。
這句成語被用來比喻一場主人有著不好的企圖，但是客人不得不參加的宴會。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或是想法呢。
你參加過最令你感到不舒服的宴會是那一場呢?你們國家的正式宴會會有那那些特殊的規矩嗎?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一點收穫。
出處為史記-項羽本紀
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7007
