S6E05 | The Comeback Kid
Saying: “to return to office after living as a hermit on Mount Dongshan”
Pinyin: Dōng Shān Zài Qǐ
Chinese: 东山再起
This Chinese Saying for this time, 东山再起 Dōng Shān Zài Qǐ is a good one for any situation involving someone whose career everyone thought finished but who came back for one more great moment. This tale, taken from the Book of Jin, tells the story of Xie An who, after already doing great things for the Eastern Jin, came out of retirement to shine one more time.
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Terms in Episode
| Pinyin/Term | Chinese | English/Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Guāng Yīn Sì Jiàn | 光阴似箭 | Time flies like an arrow |
| Chéngyǔ | 成语 | a Chinese saying or idiomatic phrase |
| Book of Jìn (Jìn Shū) | 晋书 | The official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 during the Tang dynasty |
| Táng Dynasty | 唐朝 | Chinese Dynasty that lasted 618-907 |
| Dōng Shān Zài Qǐ | 东山再起 | Stage a comeback; resume one's former position; return to power; start from scratch again |
| Dōng | 东 | East |
| Shān | 山 | Mountain |
| Zài | 在 | Again |
| Qǐ | 起 | To rise |
| Eastern Jìn Dynasty | 东晋 | The Jin Dynasty from 317-420, after the fall of the Western Jin. The capital was moved to Jiankang, present day Nanjing |
| Jiànkāng | 建康 | Capital of several Chinese dynasties, located in present-day Nanjing |
| Luòyáng | 洛阳 | City in Henan and capital of a few ancient provinces in China |
| Cháng’ān | 长安 | Present day Xian in Shaanxi Province, this was the former name of the capital of many dynasties |
| Xiōngnú | 匈奴 | A people of the Eastern Steppe who created an empire that flourished around the time of the Qin and Han dynasties |
| Xiè Ān | 谢安 | 320–385, also known as Xie Dongshan, was a Chinese politician of the Eastern Jin dynasty who, despite his lack of military ability and skill, led Jin through a major crisis involving attacks by Former Qin. |
| Xiè Dōngshān | 谢东山 | See above Xie An |
| Kuàijī | 会稽 | Old name of the city of Shàoxīng in Zhejiang Province |
| Yángzhōu | 扬州 | A prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province. It is located on the north bank of the Yangtze, bordering Nanjing to the southwest and Huai'an to the north, |
| Sūn Chuò | 孙绰 | 320-377, a Chinese poet of the Six Dynasties poetry tradition. He was one of the famous participants of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, along with Wang Xizhi, and a large group of other scholar-poets, in 353 CE |
| Wáng Xīzhī | 王羲之 | Calligrapher, politician, general and writer during the Jin dynasty. He was best known for his mastery of Chinese calligraphy. Wang is sometimes regarded as the greatest Chinese calligrapher in Chinese history, and was a master of all forms of Chinese calligraphy, especially the running script. He is known as one of the Four Talented Calligraphers (四賢) in Chinese calligraphy. Emperor Taizong of Tang admired his works so much that Wang's work, the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion was said to be buried with the emperor in his mausoleum. |
| Lántíngjí Xù | 兰亭集序 | Introduction to Poems composed at the Orchid Pavilion |
| Bóyí | 伯夷 | a mythical figure from the most ancient times |
| Xiè Wàn | 谢万 | Younger brother to Xie An |
| Huán Wēn | 桓温 | 312–373, a general and regent of the Jin Dynasty (266–420), |
| Dī tribe | 氐族 | An ancient ethnic group that lived in western China, and are best known as one of the non-Han Chinese peoples known as the Five Barbarians that overran northern China during the Jin dynasty (266–420) and the Sixteen Kingdoms period. |
| Wǔhú | 五胡 | A Chinese historical exonym for five ancient non-Han peoples who immigrated to northern China in the Eastern Han dynasty, and then overthrew the Western Jin dynasty and established their own kingdoms in the 4th–5th centuries. The peoples categorized as the Five Barbarians were: the Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei, Qiang, Di |
| Western Jìn | 西晋 | The Western Jin lasted 266–316 and was established as the successor to Cao Wei after Sima Yan usurped the throne from Cao Huan. The capital of the Western Jin was initially in Luoyang, though it later moved to Chang'an (modern Xi'an) |
| Former Qín | 前秦 | A dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese history ruled by the Di ethnicity that lasted 351-394 |
| Battle of Féi River | 淝水之战 | Also known as the Battle of Feishui (淝水之战),a battle in 383, where forces of the Di-led Former Qin dynasty were decisively defeated by the outnumbered army of the Eastern Jin dynasty |
| Ānhuī | 安徽 | A province in Central |
| Héféi | 合肥 | Capital of Anhui Province |
| Liú Sòng Dynasty | 刘宋 | An imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It lasted 420-479 and was succeeded by the Eastern Jin dynasty and preceded the Southern Qi dynasty. |
