If a warrior's hand is bitten by a poisonous snake, they will cut off the bitten hand in order to survive.(蝮蛇螫手壯士斷腕)
If a warrior's hand is bitten by a poisonous snake, they will cut off the bitten hand in order to survive.(蝮蛇螫手壯士斷腕)
At
the end of the Han dynasty, China fell into chaos. This era is known as the
Three Kingdoms period in history books.
The
three major kingdoms were the Kingdom of Cao Wei, the Kingdom of Eastern Wu and
the Kingdom of Shu Han.
There
was a famous general in the Kingdom of Cao Wei named Chen Tai, and there is a
story about him in history books.
In
255 AD, a great war broke out between the Kingdoms of Wei and Shu Han. The army
of Shu Han surrounded a strategically valuable city in central Gansu Province
that was very important to Wei.
Chen
Tai led the army to the front line and held a meeting with the military staff.
The
military staff said:
'The
current situation is very bad. The army of the Kingdom of Shu Han is larger
than ours and our combat effectiveness is obviously lower.
There
is an old saying: if a warrior's hand is bitten by a poisonous snake, the
warrior will cut off the bitten hand in order to survive.
The
warrior knows that if he does not take decisive action, he will eventually lose
his life.
We
should abandon the besieged city and open up another battlefield from which to
attack the Kingdom of Shu Han's army.
After
listening to the military adviser's advice, he pondered for a while and said:
'I
think you have overlooked the importance of the besieged city. This city is of
great strategic significance — like a person's heart. If we lose it, we will
lose a lot of land.'
He
then divided the army he was leading into three groups. The first group climbed
a high mountain and launched a surprise attack on the regular army of the
Kingdom of Shu Han. A second group attacked the regular army of the Kingdom of
Shu Han from the side. The third group attacked the Kingdom of Shu Han's
logistics troops.
His
strategy was successful. He resolved this huge crisis successfully. Although he
led fewer troops than the Kingdom of Shu Han, they defeated them.
This
idiom comes from the idea that if a warrior's hand is bitten by a poisonous
snake, the warrior will cut off the bitten hand in order to survive.
The
idiom is used to describe someone who takes decisive action that will result in
personal losses in order to consider the bigger picture.
Dear
friends, what inspiration or thoughts does this story give you?
If
you were bitten by a poisonous snake, what would you do? Have you ever found
yourself trying to protect your small interests, only to end up suffering a
great loss?
I
hope this story brings you new insights.
蝮蛇螫手壯士斷腕(If a warrior's hand is bitten by a
poisonous snake, they will cut off the bitten hand in order to survive.)
中國漢王朝末年中國陷入一片混亂，這個時代歷史書上稱為三國時代。
三國時代最主要的三個王國是曹魏王國、東吳王國與蜀漢王國。
曹魏王國有一個著名的將軍，他的名字叫做(陳泰)，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
西元255年，魏王國與蜀漢王國發生了一場大戰，，蜀漢王國的軍隊包圍了曹魏王國在甘肅省的中部一座很重要的具有戰略價值的城市。
他帶領軍隊前往前線，他跟一個軍事參謀開了一場會議。
這個軍事參謀說。
我認為現在的情況很糟糕，蜀漢王國的軍隊人數比我們多，我們的戰鬥力明顯低於蜀漢王國。
有一句古話，如果有一個勇士的手被一隻毒蛇咬到，這個勇士會為了活下去而斬斷自己被毒蛇咬到的那隻手。
這個勇士知道如果沒有採取果斷的行動，那麼自己最終會失去自己的生命。
我們應該放棄這座被包圍的城市，我們要另外開闢戰場去從側面攻擊蜀漢王國的軍隊。
他聽完這個軍事參謀的建議後，他沉思了一會兒說。
我認為你忽略了目前被包圍的這座城市的重要性，這座城市的戰略意義就像是一個人的心臟，如果我們失去這座城市，那麼我們接著就會失去非常多的土地。
他接著把他所帶領的軍隊分成三組人馬，第一組人馬爬過一座高山對蜀漢王國的正規軍發動一場奇襲，另外一隻人馬從繞道蜀漢王國的正規軍的側面發動攻擊，最後一隻人馬則是發動對蜀漢王國的後勤部隊的攻擊。
他的戰略取得了成功，他成功地解決的這次的巨大危機，他所帶領的魏王國的軍隊人數雖然比蜀漢王國更少，但他們打敗了蜀漢王國。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是如果有一個勇士的手被一隻毒蛇咬到，這個勇士會為了活下去而斬斷自己被毒蛇咬到的那隻手。
這句成語被用來形容一個人為了顧全大局而果斷地做出會造成自己部份損失的行為。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你如果被毒蛇咬到手，你會採取哪些行動呢?你曾經因為要保全自己擁有的小的利益，結果卻造成很大的損失的經驗嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為三國志-魏書22-陳泰傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E5%9C%8B%E5%BF%97/%E5%8D%B722