He appears to be dancing, but what he is really
doing is an assassination.(項莊舞劍意在沛公)
In the last years of the Qin dynasty, many
revolutionary armies arose in different parts of China to oppose the Qin
dynasty.
Among these revolutionary armies, the one
with the most powerful military force was Xiang Yu.
The name of Xiang Yu's most important
military staff officer is Fan Zeng, and a story about him is recorded in
history books.
In 207 BC, Fan Zeng told Xiang Yu at a
military meeting.
Liu Bang led a revolutionary army to invade
and occupy the capital of the Qin dynasty.
According to my observation, Liu Bang has
revealed his ambition to establish a regime that will unify the whole of China.
I think Liu Bang will be the biggest
obstacle to our unification of China, so we should kill him as soon as we get
the chance.
Xiang Yu agreed with him.
The next day, Xiang Yu held a banquet, and
Xiang Yu invited Liu Bang to attend the banquet.
After the banquet began, Fan Zeng hinted
that Xiang Yu would order Liu Bang's death.
But Xiang Yu didn't seem to see his hint.
Fan Zeng noticed that Xiang Yu's mentality
had changed, so he left the banquet hall with an excuse.
He found Xiang Yu's cousin and said to
Xiang Yu's cousin
Your cousin and I agreed to find a way to
kill Liu Bang, but I don't know what happened to make him change his mind.
He came to our barracks with his men to
attend this banquet. I think today is a good opportunity to kill Liu Bang.
In about five minutes, I will return to the
banquet hall and tell Xiang Yu.
You will put on a show to entertain
everyone.
The programme you will perform is the
traditional sword dance of the Chu Kingdom, which you are very familiar with.
You must use a real sword to dance this
dance, and then you will approach Liu Bang and assassinate him while you dance.
I will take all the responsibility after
you kill Liu Bang, and you will not be punished by Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu's cousin said to him.
No problem, I will follow your
instructions.
Fan Zeng returned to the banquet hall and
carried out his plan.
Xiang Yu's cousin arrived at the banquet
hall. He walked into the square of the banquet hall and began to perform a
sword dance.
He was very concentrated while dancing, his
movements were slow and graceful, and when he looked at Liu Bang during the
dance, his eyes shone with a murderous look.
Xiang Yu's uncle also attended the banquet.
Xiang Yu's uncle noticed the strange
atmosphere and wanted to stop the assassination.
Xiang Yu's uncle drew his sword, stood up
and said to Xiang Yu
This dance is so good. I haven't danced
this traditional sword dance for a long time.
Everyone has had a good time drinking and
dancing today, so I'm going to dance this traditional sword dance together.
After Xiang Yu's uncle said these words, he
went to the square in the banquet hall and danced this traditional sword dance
with Xiang Yu's cousin.
This idiom is used to describe a person who
hides his true intentions through ordinary actions.
Dear friend, what inspirations or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Have you seen the special dance
performances? Can you dance the traditional dances in your hometown?
I hope this story can give you something to
gain.
項莊舞劍意在沛公(He appears to be dancing, but
what he is really doing is an assassination.)
秦王朝的末年，中國各地興起了很多隻反抗秦王朝的革命軍隊。
這些革命軍隊中，擁有最強大的軍事力量的人是項羽。
項羽最重要的軍事參謀的名字是范增，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
西元前207年，在一場軍事會議中，范增對項羽說。
劉邦領導一隻革命軍隊攻入並且佔領秦王朝的首都。
根據我的觀察，劉邦已經流露出想要建立一個統一整個中國的政權的野心。
我認為劉邦會成為我們統一中國的最大阻礙，因此我們只要一有機會就應該立刻殺了他。
項羽認同他的想法。
第二天，項羽舉辦了一場宴會，項羽邀請劉邦來參加這場宴會。
宴會開始後，范增暗示項羽要下令殺了劉邦。
但是項羽卻彷彿像是沒有看見他的暗示一樣。
范增覺察到項羽的心態已經發生了變化，他便藉故離開宴會廳。
他找來項羽的堂弟然後對項羽的堂弟說。
我與你的堂哥已經說好，要找機會殺了劉邦，但是我不知道發生了什麼事讓他改變了心意。
他帶著他的部下來到我們的軍營中參加這場宴會，我認為今天是一個殺了劉邦的好機會。
你立刻準備一下，大約五分鐘之後，我會回到宴會廳中並且對項羽說。
你將表演一個節目讓大家助興。
你要表演的節目就是你很熟悉的楚王國傳統的劍舞。
你在跳這個舞要用真的劍，然後你在跳舞的時候接近並且刺殺劉邦。
你殺了劉邦之後我會承擔所有責任，你不會被項羽責罰。
項羽的堂弟對他說。
沒問題，我會遵照你的指令。
范增回到宴會廳中並且按照自己的計畫進行。
項羽的堂弟來到宴會廳中，他走道在宴會廳中的方型廣場，他開始表演劍舞。
他在跳舞的時候非常的專注，他的動作很緩慢很優雅，當他在跳舞中他的眼睛掃過劉邦時，他的眼神中散發出殺氣。
項羽的叔叔也參加了這場宴會。
項羽的叔叔覺察到異樣的氣氛，項羽的叔叔想要阻止這場暗殺行動。
項羽的叔叔抽出自已的劍，站起來對項羽說。
這個舞跳得太好了，我也很久沒有跳這一支傳統的劍舞了。
今天大家喝酒喝得很開心，所以我也要一起下場跳這一支傳統的劍舞。
項羽的叔叔說完這些話就走到宴會廳中的方型廣場內與項羽的堂弟一起跳這支傳統的劍舞。
這句成語被用來形容一個人藉由普通的行動隱藏他的真正企圖。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或是想法呢。
你看過那些很特殊的舞蹈表演呢?你會跳你的家鄉中的傳統舞蹈嗎?
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