* It is like adding extra feet to a snake when it is drawn up.
    It is an allusion from Volume 2 of Anecdotes of Qi State in Anecdotes of the Warring States.
    "One day a man in Chu State gave his slaves a pot of wine. One of the slaves told him: 'The pot of wine is not enough for all of us, but too much for one. I suppose that we can draw snakes on the ground, one who first finishes the drawing takes the wine.' One of the slaves was the first to finish draw-ing. He took the wine and drank. Then, holding the pot in his left hand he went on his drawing with his right hand and said : ' I can add some feet to it. ' Before he had finished drawing the feet, another slave finished his snake and grabbed the pot from him and said: 'Snakes have no feet at all, how can you add feet to them?' Then, he drank the wine. "
    Later, people used the allusion figuratively to mean that one ruins the re-sult by adding something superfluous.
    Going to the south by driving the carriage northward.
    The allusion is from The Anecdotes of Wei State from The Anecdotes of the Warring States.
"Today, when I was on my way here to present myself before Your Majesty, I saw on the road a man preparing a grand progress. Facing the north, he said : ' I am leaving for Chu State. ' I was surprised and asked: ' But why are you heading northward while Chu State is in the south?' 'All my horses are very fine. ' The man answered. Then I said: 'Though the horses are good, they don't go in the right direction. ' ¡®I have many horses.' The man remarked.  'Though you have many horses, the road does not lead to Chu. ' I pointed out. The man still insisted: 'My driver is very skillful.' As a matter of fact, the greater the number of his horses, the farther the man would be apart from Chu State."
    Later, people used the allusion to mean that, if one acts against his aims, the more distance he covers, the more distance he has from his destination.
   
    * When a snipe grapples with a clam, the fisherman will benefit.
    The allusion comes from Volume 2 of The Anecdotes of Yah State of The Anecdotes of the Warring States.
    "Once a clam was opening its shells to have a little sunshine when a snipe came to peck its flesh. The clam closed its shells, so the snipe's snout was gripped by the shell. The snipe said to the clam: ' If it doesn' t rain today and tomorrow, there will be sure a dead clam. ' The clam said: 'If you cannot get out of my grip today and tomorrow, then there will be surely a dead snipe.' While both the snipe and the clam were unwilling to give up, a fisherman came and caught them both."
    Later, people used the allusion to mean that, as each of the two sides which fall into argument and dispute sticks to its own stand unwilling to give in, both sides will lose while the third party takes the advantage.
   
    * Helping the shoots grow by pulling them upward.
    The allusion comes from Chapter One of Gongsun Chou in The Mencius.
    "Once a farmer in the Song State worried that his shoots could not grow quickly, he pulled them upward one by one in to help grow. He explained: 'My shoots are ill and I have assisted them to grow. 'His son went to the field to have a look only to find that all their shoots have withered."
    Later, people used the allusion figuratively to mean that to hasten success desperately will violate the law of the nature and result in a heavy loss.

    * Learning the way of walking in Handan -- Awkward imi-tation produces even worse effect.
    The allusion comes from Autumn Water by Zhuang Zi.
    "And have you heard of the story of a young fellow in Shoulin who had learnt the way of walking in Handan? He tried to learn their skill, only to find that he lost the way of his own, finally he had to crawl back home. '
Later it is used to refer to the fact that one failed in imitating the way of others and also he lost his own way.
    * Dongshi, an ugly woman, imitates the frowning of the beauty Xishi.
    The allusion comes from The Movement of Nature by Zhuang Zi.
    "Once in the Spring and Autumn Period, Xi Shi, a beauty in Yue State kit an ache in her chest, so she crossed her arms on her chest and bent for-ward to relieve her ache. When her neighbour, an ugly woman named Dong Shi, saw this, and followed suit, considering it so beautiful. But at the sight of her, the rich in her neighborhood shut their doors and stayed inside for fear of meeting her, and the poor immediately took their wives and children away. The ugly woman knew that Xi Shi's ill look was beautiful, but she didn't know why."
    Later the allusion was used to satirize that blind imitations will cause even worse effects.
    * To put up two examples which contradict each other; to contradict oneself.
    The allusion comes from Chapter One of Close Questioning by Nan Feizi.
    "Once upon a time, a man from Chu State was selling shields and lances in the market. At first, he raised high one of his shields and shouted energeti-cally: ¡®My shield is hard enough that nothing can break it. ' Then he held his lance high and shouted: 'My lance is so sharp that it can pierce through any-thing. ' One of the onlookers asked him: ' If your lance is used to attack your shield, what will happen?' The seller had nothing to say.
    Later, this allusion is used to refer to the fact that one contradicts oneself by putting up two contradictory examples.

    * To trust chances and windfalls.
    The allusion comes from a fable in The Five Kinds of Moths by Han Feizi.
    "Once, in Song State a farmer was ploughing in his fields. There was a tree in his fields. A hare came rushing into the tree, broke its neck and died. The farmer gave up his plough and waited by the tree hoping another hare would do the same. But no hare came across and he became the laughing stock of the whole state. If Your Majesty wants to rule the country by means of the late king's policy, it is like doing what the farmer did. "
    Later, people used the allusion to satirize those who rigidly adhere to lim-ited experience and refuse to adapt themsleves to the changing situation, or those who always want to reap without sowing.
   
     * The food handed out in contempt.
    The allusion comes from Sandalwood Bow in A Record of Etiquette.
    "Once, there was a famine in Qi State. A man named Qian Ao distribut-ed food by the roadside in order to relieve the starving refugees. One refugee in rags and shabby shoes came along the road holding food in his left hand and drink in his right one, Qian Ao shouted rudely: ' Come on, help yourself!' The refugee looked up and said: ' I' 11 never take any food I was shouted to eat! 'He said farewell to Qian Ao and went away. Finally he died of starva-tion. " Later, people used the allusion to mean the alms with insult.
    * The man in Qi State worrying about the collapse of the sky ; the man who worried about the impossible catastrophe.
    The allusion comes from Nature' s Blessing in Lie Zi .
    "Once in Qi State there was a man, who was so haunted by the fear that the sky might fall, the earth might sink and he might have nowhere to dwell on. So he gave up food and sleep. A wise man who heard of his worries paid him a visit in order to enlighten him. He said to the man: ' The sky is actually gathered air and there is nowhere without air. In fact, you bend your body and stretch your limbs in the air, exhale and inhale the air, and move forward and backward in the sky all day long. Why should you worry about the fall of the sky?' ' If the sky is really accumulated by the air, why the sun, the moon and the stars cannot fall down?' the man asked. The enlightener replied:¡®The sun, the moon and the stars are all the bright objects in the agglomera-tion of air. Even if they fall down, they cannot hurt anyone. ' The man asked again:  But what can I do if the earth sinks. The enlightener replied: 'The earth is made up of earth. It bounds in every place and there is nowhere with-out earth. You tread on the earth all day long, why should you worry about its sinking?' The man suddenly saw the light. He was as pleased as the wise man.
    Later the allusion was used to mean unnecessary worries.
  
    * The sound of the song was still echoing in the hall.
    The allusion comes from Tang' s Inquiry in Lie Zi .
    "Once a woman from Han State went eastward to Qi State. As she was short of food on her way, she sang songs in return for some food when she passed through the Yong Gate. After she had left, the sound of her songs was still echoing around the hall of the gate and lingered there for three days. Peo-ple in the neighbourhood thought she had not left."
    Later, the allusion was used to describe songs, so melodious that they stick to the audience's mind for long.
    * Xia Li Ba Ron-- works of popular literature and art.
    The allusion comes from an article entitled Reply to the Inquiry of the King of Chu State by Song Yu, a great poet of Chu State in the Warring States Period.
    "Once, a singer from another state was singing in the city. When he sang his first song named Xia Li Ba Ren, thousands of people in the state were so fascinated that they joined his singing. When he sang the song named Yang A Jiu Lu, he was joined by hundreds of people. And when he sang Yang Chun Bai Xue, he was joined by only dozens of people. At last, when he sang very noble classical songs, he was understood and joined by very few people. The reason was that the more profound the song is, the less popular it is. "
    In this story, Xia Li refers to villages in the ancient China, and Ba is the name of an ancient small state in today's eastern part of Sichuan province. So, "Xia Li Ba Ren" means popular folk songs. Its extended meaning was the works of the popular literature and art. " Yang Chun Bai Xue" was the name of a higher artistic song and was considered by the ancient Chinese peo-ple as very difficult and classical works of literature and art which cannot be appreciated by the common people. And the expression "Qu Gao He Gua" in-dicates works of art or literature that are too difficult to be understood and ap-preciated by the mass of people. In ancient times, the allusion also meant there was rare chance to find a knowing friend.
   
    * He lost his horse, but gained good luck.
    The allusion comes from The Teaching Among the People in Huai Nan Zi.
    "A man with remarkable horsemanship lived on the frontier. One day one of his horses ran away into the enemy's camp. He was pitied for this, but his father said: 'Does it not mean good luck?'A few days later, his lost horse returned to his house and with it were a large group of the enemy's fine hors-es. When people came to congratulate him, his father warned: 'It is probably a disaster. ' The horse riding master became crazy about riding as there were so many fine horses in his house. Unfortunately, one day he fell from the back of a horse and broke his hipbone. People came to console him, but his father said.  'Does it not mean good luck?' One year later,  the enemy's army launched an invasion into the frontier and all the strong men joined the battle with bows and arrows in their hands. Most of them died on the battlefield. But this man and his father had survived all due to his limp. So good luck may turn out to be a disaster, and the latter may turn into the former. This trans-mission occurs endlessly but the reason of it is too deep to measure.
    Later it is figuratively used to mean that the loss at one time does not necessarily equate a bad thing and bad things can turn into good ones under certain conditions.
   
    * To leave three sides of the net open -- to give a wayout to the wrongdoers.
    The allusion comes from The Biography of Yin in The Records of the Historian.
    "One day King Tang of the Shang Dynasty was making a tour out of his palace when he saw a net stretched out all around the four sides of the fields. 0ne of the officials Zhu reported to him: 'All the creatures from all around under the heaven are in my net. ' The King then ordered to open the three sides of the net. Zhu said: 'Now the creatures can go to anywhere at their own will.' When all the princes and dukes heard of the story, they said:¡®King Tang' s kindness reaches its utmost, even with regard to wild ani-mals. '"
    The original meaning of this allusion is that the king had so high a moral-ity that he gave his kindness to wild animals. Later on, people often use it to mean letting people go even if they have done wrongs. And the allusion is also said as "open one side of the net, " meaning leaving a wayout to the wrongdo-ers or criminals for their reclamation.

    * TO sleep on the firewood and taste gall bladder--to ex-perience all the hardships in preparation for revenge.
    The allusion comes from The Aristocratic Family of Gou Jian,  the Sovereign of Yue State in the Spring and Autumn Periods in The Records of the Historian.
    "After Gou Jian, the Sovereign of Yue State,  was remitted by the Sovereign of Wu State, he returned to his state. He pondered over his failure and revenge with painstaking efforts, putting a gall bladder by his side and tasting it whenever he sat or slept or even had meals ... About four years lat-er, Yue State launched another attack on Wu State and defeated it." In A Fabricated Reply Letter from Sun Quan, the Sovereign of Wu State, to Cao Cao, the Prime Minister of Wei Dynasty in the Three States Period by Su Shi in the Song Dynasty, there was the allusion to Gou Jian' s "sleeping on firewood and tasting gall bladder. "
    Later the allusion is used to depict the spirit of the painstaking self-inspi-ration.

    * All around were the folk songs of Chu State -- to be completely isolated.
    The allusion comes from The Biography of Xiang Yu in The Records of the Historian.
"When Xiang Yu, the general of the uprising peasant army and the Sovereign of Chu State camped his defeated troops in Gai Xia, he suffered from a shortage of forces and food. And the troops of Liu Bang, the King d Han State and their dukes rounded up Xiang Yu' s troops in tight rings. At night, everywhere around the Liu Bang's camps could be heard the folk songs of Chu State. Xiang Yu, terribly shocked, murmured: 'Has Han occupied all the lands of Chu?'"
    Later, the allusion refers to an endangered situation, or a state of being surrounded and isolated by enemies.
   
     * To offer one's services as voluntarily as Mao Sui did.
    The allusion comes from The Collected Biographies of Ping Yuanjun and His Subjects in The Records of the Historian.
    "Mao Sui was a guest of Ping Yuanjun in Zhao State in the Warring States Period. When Qin State was at war with Zhao State, the latter was in jeopardy. Ping Yuanjun was entrusted with a mission to go to Chu State for help. Mao Sui volunteered to accompany him. When Ping Yuanjun could not persuade the Sovereign of Chu State to reach a decision after a long negotia-tion, Mao Sui stepped forward, pointing out that the invasion of Qin into Zhao would induce actually an invasion to Chu. Finally the Sovereign of Chu agreed to send his troops to aid Zhao. "
    Later the allusion is used to refer to those who recommend themselves to difficult jobs or missions.

    * Three moves by Mencius's mother.
    The allusion comes from The Biography of Mencius' Mother in Biogra-phies of Outstanding Women by Liu Xiang, one of the greatest men of letters in the Han Dynasty.
    "When Meng Ke, known later on as Mencius, was still a child, his mother and he lived near a graveyard. As Meng Ke played in the yard, what be imitated were all the rites of funerals. So his mother said: 'This is not the right place for me and my son to live. ' She moved to a house near a market. Then her son took pleasure in imitating the peddlers' hawking and the sales-men's bargaining. Again the mother said: ' This is not the place for me and my son to live. ' And she made another migration and housed themselves near a school. There her son behaved in the same polite manner as the teachers and students. The mother said: 'Here should we live! ' So they settled there. In the following years, Meng Ke acquired a wide range of knowledge, such as e-tiquette, music,  archery,  charioteering,  reading,  writing and arithmetic. When he grew up, he became one of the most famous scholars and representa-tives of Confucianism."
    Later, the phrase is used to sing praises of mothers who teach their chil-dren by means of examples.

    * Lord Ye' s love for dragons  -- professed love for what one really fears.
The allusion comes from Volume 5 of Strange News and Miscellaneous Affairs in A New Preface by Liu Xiang in the Han Dynasty.
    "Once there was a lord named Ye Zigao who claimed to be a dragon fan.
He liked painting dragons, engraved and carved dragons on all the doors, walls and columns. One day, when the dragon in the sky heard of this, it went down to the lord's house, putting its head in the inner chamber with its tail in the hall. At the sight it, Zigao was of Ye seared out of wits and he rushed out of his house, pale and trembling. So, this Lord proved to be any-thing but a lover of dragons though he professed he loved them."
    Later the allusion is used to mean those who claim to love one thing but turn out to dread the same thing, and those who are hypocritical.

    * To make three calls at the thatched cottage ¨C repeated solicitation for an important person.
    The allusion comes from The Biography of Zhuge Liang, the Prim Minister of Shu State in the Tree States Period.
    "So the Sovereign Liu Bei then decided to request Zhuge Liang who was then secluding himself in his thatched cottage in Long Zhong. Liu Bei were there for three times, and only in the third time he got the chance to meet Zhuge Liang. "
    The original meaning of the allusion is that Liu Bei went three times Long Zhong to solicit Zhuge Liang to assume an important post. Later, it is used to mean treating gifted persons modestly.

    * To make insinuations.
    The allusion comes from Volume 12 of Search for the Immortals.
    "In the middle of Zhong Ping years under the control of Emperor Guang Wu Di of the Han Dynasty, there was in a river a strange creature. Some pea ple said it was a monster, others said it was a short mouth fox. The creature could shoot people with the sand hidden in its mouth. Anyone who was shot would tremble all over, got headache and fever, and could even die."
    Later the allusion is used to mean attacking people from darkness.

    * A poem composed in a while of walking seven steps a very quick wit.
    The allusion comes from Literature in New Stories and Folk Tales.
    "Once, Can Pi, Emperor Wei Wen Di of the Wei Dynasty ordered his brother Can Zhi, then the Lord of state Dong E, to compose a poem in a while of walking seven steps. If he could not finish it he would be killed. With his life at risk, Can Zhi calmly composed his poem as follows:
    Simmered for soup thick were long beans,
    Dripping the soup and screening the beans.
    Under the caldron pods were burning,
    In the cauldron beans were sobbing.
    From the same root they grow a lot,
    Why should they fight each other so hot?
    The poem was also quoted by Collection of Literature Works of One Hundred and Three Famous Writers in the Han Dynasty and the Wei Dy-nasty by Zhang Pu of the Ming Dynasty.
    Later the allusion is used to describe a very quick wit, or a fratricidal fighting and fratricide.

    * To quench one' s thirst by thinking of plums.
    The allusion comes from By Means of Cheat in New Stories" and Folk Tales.
    "Once the Emperor Wu Di of the Wei Dynasty commanded his troops in a 1ong march. There were no waters along their routes and the soldiers got ter-ribly thirsty. The emperor said: 'Beyond us there is a large plum garden, the sweet and sour fruits can quench our thirsty. ' On hearing his words the sol-diers all slobbered. Spurred, they hurried their march and reached the water resource. "
    Later this phrase is used to mean the fantastic, unfeasible hope one cher-ishes for consoling oneself.

    * To read in the light of glowworms and reflection of snow.
    The allusion comes from Hisory of the Jin Dynasty and Records of Be-ginners' Studies.
In Biography of Che Yin of History of the Jin Dynasty the story is as follows:
    "Che Yin, diligent and tireless in study, was learned and erudite. Be-cause his family was poor he had no light for study in the evening, so in sum-mer he wove bags and kept in it dozens of glowworms and spent sleepless night in the dim light of them, reading."
    And another story can be read in Song Qi Yu (Song Qi's Analects) quoted in Records of Beginners' Studies.
    "Sun Kang was in a poor family. He often read with the reflecting dim light of snow. "
    Later, it is used to mean studying with diligence. And the allusion is also divided into two phrases, as "Reading in the light of caged glowworms", or "Reading in the reflected light of snow".
   
    * Golden millet dream -- dream full of fantasy.
    The allusion comes from a romance entitled Stories Telling on the Pil-lows by Shen Jiji in the Tang Dynasty.
    "Once there was a boy named Lu Sheng. Although born in a poor fami-ly, he yearned all day long for fame, property and ranks of a general or a min-ister. One day when he lodged in an inn in Handan, he encountered a Taoist priest, who gave him a porcelain pillow. Lu Sheng fell into asleep and dreamt as soon as he laid his head on the porcelain pillow, while the innkeeper was cooking his sorghum food. In his dream Lu Sheng married the daughter of a rich man, took up a post of minister; he finally had a large number of children and grandchildren and lived in a luxurious and majestic life. When he woke up from his dream,  the innkeeper had not even made his golden millet food ready. "
    Later the story is meant to satirize the nullity of fantasies and unfeasible hope. Another phrase is "golden dreams on the porcelain pillow."

    * The proverbial donkey in Gui Zhou has exhausted its tricks -- at one' s wits end.
    The allusion comes from a fable entitled A Donkey in Gui Zhou in the Three Disciplines by Liu Zhongyuan, one of the greatest men of letters in the Tang Dynasty.
    "Once there was no donkey in Gui Zhou. One man who did odd jobs shipped a donkey there. But people found it useless, so they left it wandering at a hillside. When a tiger saw it, the tiger thought it was a creature from the heaven because it was much bigger than itself, so the tiger withdrew into the wood and peeped out at it. Later on, the tiger felt his way to approach it, though still too fearful to get close. One day, when the donkey let out a bray, the tiger was so terribly shocked and rushed far away from the donkey because it thought the donkey might eat it up. Afterwards, whenever the tiger passed the donkey farther or nearer, the donkey displayed no special skills. Gradually the tiger was familiar with the donkey's bray, so it got nearer and nearer and men made his way to the donkey's back, but still didn't dare to fight. Final-ly, when the tiger stepped close to it, touched its body for a provocation, the donkey was so angry that it kicked him. The tiger was so pleased and said:¡®Its skill ends here! ' So he sprang to it, cut its throat, ate it up and ran away  "
    Now the phrase is used to mean that one's limited wits are soon exhaust-ed and his weak nature comes to light.

    * To bring the painted dragon to life by drawing up the pupils of its eyes-- to add the touch that brings a work of art to life.
    The allusion comes from Volume 7 of Stories of Great Paintings in Chi-History by Zhang Yanyuan in the Tang Dynasty.
    "Once, Zhang Yao, the monk was drawing four white dragons on the walls of An Le Temple in Jinling, but he left their eyes blank. He said: ¡®With their eyes put in they will fly away.' People thought he was ridicu-lous, so they urged him to add eyes. As he did, there suddenly came thunder and lightening, which crushed the walls open and two of the dragons soared into the sky amid the rising clouds, whereas the other two without their eyes remained as pictures on the wall."
Later the allusion is used to refer to the fact that, when writing an article of delivering a speech, one adds brilliant words or sentences to make the con-tent more vivid and expressive.

    * To occur for the first time -- unprecedented.
    The allusion comes from Volume 4 of Chat in Bei Meng Chamber by Sun Guangxian in the Five Generations Dynasty.
    "In the Tang Dynasty, every year in Jingzhou people sent candidates to Chang'an, the capital city of the dynasty to attend the selective examination of officials. They would dress the candidates with brilliant clothes and hats, and held grand sending ceremonies. But every year the candidates failed the examination. People called the county 'deserted land.' But one year, a stu-dent of Liu Tui was sent with his body bound by twigs of chaste tree, and he succeeded in the examination.  People called in Chinese the event Dorian huang, meaning' unprecedented' and the first occurrence in Jingzhou. "

    * To tie one' s hair to the beam and stab one ' thighs with an awl to avoid dozing when one studies--gruelling studies.
    The allusion comes from Tai Ping Yu Lan, a collection of works of liter-ature, philosophy, history and other materials edited in the Tai Ping years in the Song Dynasty for the reference of the imperials, and also from Anecdotes of the Warring States.
In Biographies of Virtuous Persons of Chu State by Zhang Fang in Jin Dynasty quoted by Volume 611 of Tai Ping Yu Lan, there is a narration as follows:
    "In the early Han Dynasty, a man named Sun Jing who was eager to learn often studied late at night. When he felt sleepy, he tied his hair to the roof beam, so, when he dozed he would feel pain and awoke because of the pulling of his hair, then he would go on with his study. "
    In Volume 1 of Anecdotes of Qin State in Anecdotes of the Warring States there is another story as follows:
    "Su Qin felt sleepy when he was reading, so he took an awl and stabbed it into his own legs. The blood flew to his feet. "
    This allusion is meant to sing praises of gruelling and diligent studies.

    * A seamless robe of the Heaven -- flawless.
    The allusion comes from Volume 68 of Tai Ping Guang Ji, a general collection of novels, folk tales, narrations and other materials edited in Tai Ping years of the Song Dynasty for the reference of the imperials. In this vol-ume there is a narration about gods and monsters written by Niu Qiao.
    "In a summer evening, Gun Han lay on his back in the yard and looked into the sky. He saw a girl descending down with her robes flapping around her sides. She said to Gun Han: ' I am a weaving girl. ' Gun Han carefully ex-amined her clothes and found no seams in them. He asked the girl how it could be, and she replied: 'The clothes in the heaven are not woven and sewn by threads and needles, so they have no seams. '"
    The story is also recorded in Volume 2 of Chat of an Old Man.
    Later the allusion is used to mean perfect and flawless operations or ma-noeuvre.

    * To lag behind Sun Shan-- fail in a competitive exami-nation.
    The allusion comes from Guo Ting Lu (Records in Guo Hall) by Fan Gongran in the Song Dynasty.
    "Once there was in Wu State a funny scholar named Sun Shan. One day Sun Shan went to another town to attend an examination for the selection of officials, together with a young man who was put in his care by the young man's parents. But the young man failed in the examination and Sun Shan was listed at the end of the winners, so they were back home earlier than the other candidates did. When the young man's parents asked them why they were back earlier, Sun Shan answered:
    'The last on the list was Sun Shan,
    And your son was behind the last one.'"
    Later it is used as an euphemism of failure in examinations.

    * A lion roars in the east bank -- a hot tempered wife.
    The allusion comes from Volume 3 of Three Notes of Rong' s Study by Hong Mai in the Song Dynasty.
    "Once there was a man named Chen Zao, whose literal style name was Ji Chang and he called himself Mr. Long Qiu. The man was fond of inviting guests and talking about Buddhism with them, but his wife Liu was hot-tem-pered and jealous. So, the famous poet Su Dongpo wrote a poem:
    A pitiful fellow Mr. Long Qiu liked
    Talking about Heaven through sleepless night,
    Suddenly came from the east bank a lion's roar,
    The stick slipped off his hand, his face so white."
    The east bank of the river here means his wife Liu, the roar of a lion was originally a Buddhist word, meaning awe-inspiring.
    Later people use the phrase "the roar of a lion from the east bank of the river" to mean a hot-tempered wife or to sneer at hen-pecked husband.

    * Punish somebody by means of his / her own.
    The allusion comes from The Second Year of Tianshou Years in the peri-od of Wu Zetian, empress of the Tang Dynasty, in Zi Zhi Tong Jian, a com-prehensive collection of books including politics, history, literature, philoso-phy, etc. for the reference of the imperials.
    "It was reported that Zhou Xing, the vice prime minister, was acting in collusion with an official Qiu Shenzhi. The empress ordered Lai Junchen, one of the well-known merciless officials to punish the two suspected. One day, Lai Junchen invited Zhou Xing for dinner. Just as they sat down, Lai asked Zhou: 'Most of the prisoners refuse to confess their guilt. Which torture do you think we can use as penalties to them?' Zhou replied: 'It's easy. You can bring a big vat and surround it with burning charcoals, then order the prisoners into the vat. ' Hearing this, Lai had a vat brought into the dining hall and circled it with burning charcoals as Zhou told him, and then he stood up and said to Zhou: 'I' ve received a report about your collusion, please get into it.' Zhou Xing was terribly scared and admitted his guilt. "
    Later it is used to mean that what has been devised to punish others is turned against himself.

    * A single slip incurs lasting sorrow -- error of a moment becomes a regret of lifetime.
    The allusion means a trifle error may cause an everlasting regret.
The allusion comes from the Ming Liang Ji, a collection of fairy tales by Yang Yi in the Ming Dynasty.
    "When Xie Yuanyin was discharged from his post, he composed the fol-lowing line :
    A single slip causes a laughing ever to last
    Later it is often used to mean that "a single slip incurs a lasting sorrow."

    * Like the eight immortals crossing the sea, each shows his/her own prowess -- everyone has his/her own way to survive difficul-ty.
    The allusion comes from a folk tale about the eight Taoist immortals crossing over the sea with his or her own supernatural prowess. But the legend aries from time to time. According to Birthplaces of the Eight Immortals and Their Eastward Tour by Wu Yuantai in the Ming Dynasty, the eight immortals are as follows:
    Zhongli Quan, a general in the Han Dynasty;
    Zhang Guo, the eldest immortal;
    Han Xiang, a nephew of Han Yu, one of the greatest men of letters in the Tang Dynasty;
    Li Xuan, the master of the eight with an iron stick;
    Cap You, brother of the dowager empress;
    Lan Caihe, the beggar;
    He Qiong, the only female among the eight.
    It was said that each of them had his or her own set of magic art to cross the sea. Later people use the allusion to mean that everyone has his or her own methods in dealing with problems, or everyone competes with one another showing their skills and feats.