The Meaning of Plants (12)

草木皆兵，grass & tree are regarded as soldier. In the May of 383, 苻坚 an emperor of ethnic minority lead on an army of nine hundred thousand soldiers for a battle at 淝 riverside. His army was mixed with many minorities. His enemy had only eighty thousand soldiers. Yet the enemy was the native 汉nationality. When苻坚’s vanguard of 250, thousand people lost the first battle, 苻坚 was threatened greatly. He walked on the wall of a city to have a look of his army. He found the grass and tree on the mountain aside were moved by wind, he mistook them as enemies and said, “Our enemy has so many soldiers too.” When he found it was but a mistake he felt regret, for it may cause his soldier losing moral. Later, when his troop met the enemy opposite the river of 淝，the enemy said, if you want fight, you have to make room for us to line-up. It was a taboo in the tradition Chinese military text book. But苻坚 thought, that I have ten times people than you, how can you play schemes and intrigues. Yet , when 苻坚 ordered his army withdrew, the soldier at rear thought that the battle had loosen already， for it was a huge army, they could not communicate each other and they running away directly.  苻坚 wanted to control the situation but it is too late.

百步穿杨，hit the leaf within hundred steps, 养由基 was a good archer around 600 BC. One day, he had a match with this friend in army to hit the leaf of poplar within 50 steps. 养由基 said, it is too short, let’s back to 100 steps. And then he win the champion. Yet his master, the king was unhappy with him, said, that although you are very good in archery, but I am not happy with this, for my experience tell me, a good archer will be killed by arrow. I love a soldier when he fight with enemy that he can use his mind but not skill. Later as everybody knew养由基 was good in archery, the enemy send thousand archers to fight with him and养由基 was killed by thousands of arrows.