In life, idioms are widely used, not only in our daily speech, but also in writing, advertising, copywriting, video titles and even paintings, film and television dramas.
However, in terms of word count, idioms are not all four words, they can be three words, they can also be five or six or seven; in terms of formal content, some of the four words that look intuitive seem to be today's vernacular, and may be idioms.
For example, "one weaker" seems to be said by people today, but in fact it is an idiom of the Eight Classics.
So, what does "one weaker" mean?
If you take it literally, it seems to mean that a person's body or strength is very poor, but if it is translated in this way, it is a mistake of looking at the meaning of the text. In fact, this idiom has nothing to do with "weak or weak".
Let's take a look at the provenance of this idiom.
"Another Weak One" is from "Zuo Chuan Zhao Gong Three Years"
Qi Gongsun Zhao pawn. Sima Zao saw Yan Zi and said: "Lost his son YaYi again." Yan Ziyi: Xi Ye! The sub-flag is inevitable, and it is gone! The Jiang clan is weak, and the concubine will start to grow. Erhui Jingshuang, Yu Ke, and a weak one, Jiang Qiwei!
Some people have to make it clear.
Gongsun Zao (公孙灶) is a surname of Jiang ,栾氏, 名灶,字子雅, also known as Gongsun Zao ,公孙灶, who was the grandson of Duke Hui of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period and the son of Gongzi Jian.
Yan Zi is Yan Bao, very short, once sent an envoy to the Chu Kingdom, we have learned about his text, that is, "Yan Zi Makes Chu". He was the grand master of the State of Qi and a well-known diplomat, who assisted the Duke of Qi Ling, the Duke of Qi Zhuang, and the Duke of Qi Jing. Sima Zao was also a physician of the State of Qi.
Ziqi was the son of Gongsun Zao and continued to hold power for his father after Gongsun Zao's death.
The so-called Jiang clan refers to the Wang clan of the State of Qi at that time, and they were all descendants of the Jiang surname (Jiang Ziya). The Concubine clan refers to the Concubine surname Tian of the State of Qi at that time, who was very powerful and always wanted to take the surname of Jiang and replace it, but was suppressed.
The so-called "Erhui" refers to the two grandsons of Qi Jinggong, Gongsun Zao and Gongsun Qi.
Gongsun 虿 is a surname of Jiang and Gao (高氏), the grandson of Duke Hui of Qi, and the son of Gongzi Qi.
After talking about these characters, let's talk about the situation in the state of Qi at that time.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, when qi jinggong was in power, the surnames of Jiang and concubines competed for power, and at first Cui Zhu and Qingfeng had exclusive power, and Qi Jinggong could not rule. Later, Two of Duke Jing's grandsons, Gongsun Zao and Gongsun Yu, staged a coup d'état to expel the Qing clan. Since then, the power of the State of Qi has returned to the hands of the Jiang surname. The two were both grandsons of Duke Hui of Qi, so they were called Erhui.
However, later, the power of the Dukes of Qi strengthened, and the strength of the Lü clan has always been very strong, so they have become even more powerful after revival. When Gongsun Zao and Gongsun Yu were alive, they could still suppress the concubine surname, and after Gongsun Zao's death, his son Luan took power, this situation was different, he could not suppress the rise of the concubine surname.
As a doctor, Yan Zi naturally saw it thoroughly. When Gongsun Zao and Gongsun Yu were alive, the Jiang surname could still be stable, and if one died, this situation would be broken.
So, this passage is translated and means the following.
Gongsun Zao of the State of Qi died. When Sima Zao learned of this news, he went to see Yan Zi and said: Zi Ya (Gongsun Zao Zi Ya) is dead. When Yan Zi learned of this, he said: When Gongsun Zao died, his son Ziqi would inevitably be in trouble, and he was in danger. The strength of the Jiang clan is weak, and the Concubine Clan is going to prosper. Originally, Gongsun Zao and Gongsun Yu were both shrewd and capable, and they could control the situation, but now one (Gongsun Zao) died, and the Surname Jiang was really dangerous.
The "weak" of "one weaker" means to lose and die, corresponding to the previous "mourning"; and "and" does not mean the second, another, but is translated as "but", indicating a turn, a bit of "opposite" meaning, playing a role in strengthening the tone.
We usually say "and", and we often use this meaning, such as:
Originally said to be a good clear line to push the tower, you do not come to the clear line is just fine, and do not seriously fight, in that hang-up, is not a pit teammate? (Playing games)
These two children are not in good health, easy to get sick, you don't take them to exercise every day after work, and say that I didn't raise well, you have to think that I am not doing well, next time you come to take them. (Husband and wife quarrel)
The "again" in these two sentences indicates a turn, strengthens the tone, and can even be directly replaced by "reverse" and "also", and the meaning will be more obvious.
Therefore, "another weak one" cannot be said to be "another person who died", but "a person who died", which expresses regret for the deceased.
Because of this, it is often used in later generations to appear in ritual texts or ritual poems.
Ande thirty-six thousand days, the common king day to open the wine. Junjia Kunyou Jinyu, the five permanent eyebrows of the white Jun alone. This talent is jealous of the creation, and the scorpion has trapped Chang Lihan. Woe today is one weaker! Scratch your head and ask the naïve stubborn. ——Qing Dynasty Shi Shijie,"The Collected Works of the Later Su Shrines"
Zhong, that is, promised, when Xiangyang made people take the corpse coffin, and his face was still alive, because he returned to Xiangyang, he chose a place to bury it. Liang Wu'er was one more weak. ——Republic of China, Cai Dongfan, "History of the North and South"
I searched, and in a certain Sinology website that integrates 20,000 kinds of books with about 2.4 billion words, it appears 140 times. If you remove the repetition, it is less than 20 times. In the pre-Ming Dynasty materials, it only appeared 3 times, which is basically a direct reference to the canonical source, and there were 13 times in the Qing Dynasty.
This statistic may not be complete, but it is enough to say that "one weaker" is a very small minority. (Image source network, invasion and deletion)