A thick fog envelops the area within a
five-mile radius.(五里霧中)
In China's Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a
renowned scholar named Zhang Kai.
Based on historical records, we have
created a story about him.
As the morning dew of early autumn still
clung to the tips of the grass, Zhang Kai was already leading his old donkey
cart along the mountain path. The medicinal herbs in the bamboo basket emitted
a bitter fragrance, and the gourd at his waist swayed gently with each step. At
twenty-three, the young man carried the composure of a sixty-year-old sage.
"Master Zhang Kai!" A clear voice
startled the mountain sparrows in the forest. A girl wearing a bamboo hat came
running from a side path, the iron sword and clay jar at her waist clinking
with each step. "Aren't you going to the academy again today? Those young
masters in brocade robes are practically wearing out the academy's
doorstep."
Zhang Kai scattered a handful of beans onto
the donkey's back and smiled. "A-Ning, last month your father said he
would send you to the embroidery workshop to learn a craft. Why are you still
playing the hunter?"
"Embroidery needles are nowhere near
as thrilling as a bow and arrow!" The girl pulled off her hat, revealing a
face tanned to a wheatish hue. "But you, you could easily become an
official with your knowledge, yet you choose to play the role of a medicine
seller."
Her words cast a shadow over the young
man's eyes. Three years ago, after his father's passing, an endless stream of
visitors shattered the tranquility of his mountain retreat. The luxurious
carriages bearing heavy gifts, the eager smiles hiding calculations—they were
more terrifying than wolves or tigers. He still remembered that snowy night
when the imperial guards forcibly took a young girl from a neighboring village
to "offer her to a noble." He had hidden in the thick fog, feeling
utterly powerless.
As the donkey cart rumbled through the city
gates, Zhang Kai suddenly placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "At the
beginning of the Hour of the Monkey today, no matter what happens, remember to
stay indoors and not come out."
At the Hour of the Goat, a thick fog
suddenly rose in the west of the city.
The tax collector, who was checking
accounts in the teahouse, looked up abruptly to see a white mist like a giant
beast swallowing the long street. The faint sound of clashing weapons echoed in
the fog. When visibility returned, the three hundred dan of newly collected
"bandit-suppression grain" in the warehouse had vanished without a
trace. On the wall was a scorched talisman—the exact location of the village
where the abducted girls had lived half a year ago.
The pursuers followed the donkey's
hoofprints to the edge of a cliff, only to find the scholar in a blue robe
standing calmly above a sea of clouds. The thick fog within a five-mile radius
churned like a living creature beneath his feet. "Gentlemen," his
clear voice pierced through the mist, "this grain will become the roof
tiles of schools and the ointments of medicine shops, but it will never become
the price of a young girl's freedom."
That night, A-Ning crouched by the cliff's
edge, holding an arrow still warm to the touch. The arrow, which should have
been aimed at the tax collector, had been quietly replaced with a peach wood
talisman by someone. "So you're not just good at running away..." The
girl chuckled softly into the deep valley where the mist still lingered. In the
distance, a village lit its first school lamp in seventeen years.
Reflective Questions:
When Zhang Kai chose to use the
"Five-Mile Mist" to cover the grain transport operation, he
transformed a technique originally meant for evasion into a tool of resistance.
In the face of systemic oppression, is this "retreat as advance"
approach more constructive than direct confrontation?
In the story, the Five-Mile Mist symbolizes
both escape and resistance. Its ability to obscure vision mirrors the complex
social dilemmas in reality. When contemporary youth face deeply entrenched
structural issues, how should they discern the right moments to "create
mist" and to "clear the mist"?
The literal translation of this idiom means
"a thick fog envelops the area within a five-mile radius."
This idiom can be used to describe someone
entering a dazed, confused state where they are unable to perceive the truth.
五里霧中(A thick fog envelops the area within
a five-mile radius.)
中國的東漢時代有一個著名的學者，他的名字叫做(張楷)。
根據歷史書上的記載，我們創作了一個他的故事。
初秋的晨露還掛在草尖時，張楷已牽著老驢車走在山道上。竹簍裡的藥草散發苦香，腰間葫蘆隨著步伐輕晃，二十三歲的青年卻有著六十老翁的從容。
"公超先生！"清脆呼喊驚起林間山雀，只見頭戴斗笠的少女從岔路奔來，腰間鐵劍與陶罐相撞叮噹作響，"您今天又不去學堂？那些穿錦袍的公子哥兒都快把書院門檻踩平了。"
張楷往驢背灑了把豆子，笑道："阿寧，上月你爹說要送你進繡坊學藝，怎麼還在當獵戶？"
"繡花針哪有弓箭痛快！"少女扯下斗笠，露出被曬成小麥色的臉龐，"倒是您，明明能靠學問當官老爺，偏要裝成賣藥郎。"
這話讓青年眼神微黯。三年前父親病逝後，絡繹不絕的訪客便打碎山居清淨，那些帶著重禮的華貴車駕，那些藏著算計的殷勤笑臉，比豺狼虎豹更令人心驚。他至今記得某個雪夜，黃門侍衛強行架走鄰村童女"獻給貴人"時，自己躲在五里霧中的無力感。
驢車轆轆駛進城門時，張楷突然按住少女肩頭："今日申時初刻，無論發生何事，切記閉門不出。"
未時三刻，城西驟起濃霧。
正在茶樓查帳的稅吏猛抬頭，只見白茫如巨獸吞沒長街，霧氣中隱約傳來金戈之聲。等能見度恢復時，倉庫裡三百石新徵的"剿匪糧"竟不翼而飛，牆上留著焦黑符印——正是半年前被劫童女們村落的方位。
追兵循著驢蹄印追到山崖邊，卻見青衫書生悠然立於雲海之上，方圓五里的濃霧在他腳下翻湧如活物。"諸位大人，"清朗嗓音穿透霧幔，"這些糧食會變成學堂的屋瓦，藥鋪的膏方，但絕不會成為童女的賣身錢。"
當夜，阿寧握著尚有餘溫的箭矢蹲在崖邊。這支本該射向稅吏的箭，被某人悄悄換成了桃木符。"原來您不止會逃跑啊..."少女對著霧氣未散的深谷輕笑，遠處村落亮起十七年來第一盞蒙學燈火。
【啟發性問題】
當張楷選擇用五里霧掩護運糧行動時，實際上是將原本用於隱遁的道術轉化為抗爭手段。這種"以退為進"的處世智慧，在面對體制性壓迫時，是否比正面衝突更具建設性？
故事中五里霧既象徵逃避也成為抗爭工具，濃霧遮蔽視野的特性恰似現實中複雜的社會迷局。當代青年在面對難以撼動的結構性問題時，該如何辨識"製造迷霧"與"撥開迷霧"的時機？
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是方圓五英里內濃霧瀰漫。
這句成語可以被用來形容一個人進入一種恍惚迷糊而且無法認清真相的狀態。
出處為後漢書-卷36張楷傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%BE%8C%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B736