Famous aphorisms:

1. Everything in the world is either advancing or retreating, and there is absolutely no room for neutrality. ——Liu Yazi's "Sword Grinding Room Documents"

Applicable to situations where neutrality cannot be maintained and one has to retreat or advance.

2. When it comes to China's convulsions, there are very few people who take one step back and don't make progress on the other side. Most of them take two steps forward. Unless you criticize them hard, they will never stop. I say that Chinese people are not mediocre because they have seen too many such things. ——Lu Xun's "Morning Blossoms Plucked at Dusk"

It is suitable for admonishing others to be merciful and to be merciful, but not to go too far.

3. Women are inherently political animals. Women are born with all these political skills. ... Women don’t have to learn politics, but if today’s politicians want to be successful, they have to learn from women. The drama on the political stage is all about cross-dressing. ?—— Qian Zhongshu's "Fortress Besieged"

Applicable to situations where concessions must be made first in order to seek better development.

Celebrity examples:

Gou Jian suffered from gallbladders

At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the king of the Yue Kingdom (497 BC - 465 BC) reigned. His surname is Si (because he is a descendant of Dayu, so he is surnamed Si), his given name is Goujian, and he is also known as Gaozhi. Gou Jian, the king of Yue, played by Chen Daoming, was defeated by Wu and surrendered to seek peace. Later, he worked hard and worked hard to become stronger, and finally became a powerful country. Wu was destroyed in 473 BC.

Gou Jian, the king of Yue, was a country established by the Huaxia people. Gou Jian was a descendant of Dayu (whose surname was Si and whose given name was Wenming). After the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, Goujian’s ancestors were granted the title of guardian of the ancestral temple in Kuaiji. Therefore, the Yue Kingdom was established.

In 496 BC, shortly after Gou Jian came to the throne, he defeated Wu. Two years later, King Wu Ji Fucha captured the capital of Yue, and Gou Jian was forced to surrender. He followed Fucha to the Kingdom of Wu, where he served as a minister to the King of Wu. He was later pardoned and returned to the country.

Since Gou Jian was defeated in the war, he never forgot the shame of Kuaiji. He endured the humiliation every day and kept waiting for the opportunity. He asked himself: "Have you forgotten the shame of Kuaiji?" He relied on sages such as Fan Li and Wen Zhong to After "ten years of gathering and ten years of lessons", Yue's national strength gradually recovered.

Extended information:

Life of Gou Jian

King Gou Jian of Yue is a descendant of Xia Yu, the founding monarch of the Xia Dynasty, and a direct descendant of Wu Yu, the concubine of the Xia Dynasty monarch Shaokang. Wuyu was granted the title of Kuaiji to take charge of and guard the sacrifices to Xia Yu.

After the establishment of the Yue Kingdom, it has maintained relatively backward living customs and has little contact with the Central Plains. At this time, it was already the end of the Spring and Autumn Period.

After more than twenty generations, it was passed down to Gou Jian's father Yunchang. When Yunchang was in power, he fought many battles with the king of Wu, Helu. After Yunchang's death, Gou Jian succeeded him as King of Yue.

Baidu Encyclopedia - "Gou Jian Destroys Wu"

Baidu Encyclopedia - Gou Jian