One Step Holds the Balance

Characters:

Pronunciation: ju(3) zu(2) qing(1) zhong(4)
Explanation: Meaning a very important action in a situation.

Tone: Positive

The Story: In AD 25, Liu Xiu became the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but the whole country was not united yet. Both Kui Xiao in the Tianshui region and Gongsun Shu in the Shu region wanted to be the leader of the new nation.

General Dou Rong was the leader in the Hexi region at the time, and he studied the situation and found that Liu Xiu held the advantage in both politics and military strength. He gathered his intelligence advisors for a meeting, and then decided to send an envoy for negotiations.

Liu Xiu warmly welcomed the envoy and wrote General Dou Rong a letter in response. It said: "Kui Xiao is in Tianshui while Gongsun Shu is in Shu. Now they are planning an alliance war. You play a vital role in this situation. You will decide which side will win by standing with it."

After Dou Rong received the letter, he came to fight with Liu Xiu.

By getting Dou Rong's strong support, Liu Xiu defeated Kui Xiao and Gongsun Shu--and then he unified the country.

Usage Example (Pinyin): Zheng(4) fu(3) de jue(4) ding(4) dui(4) wo(3) men de xiang(4) mu(4) ju(3) zu(2) qing(1) zhong(4)

Usage Example (English translation): The government's decision plays a "one-step holds the balance" role in our project.

Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those above where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms newsletter with a good offline study program.