《借尸还魂》出处、故事、英文翻译、注释

25.借尸还魂

jiè shī huán hún

【出处】《三十六计》第十四计：有用者，不可借，不能用者，求借，借不能用者而用之。匪^[1]我求童蒙^[2]，童蒙求我。元代岳伯川《铁拐李》楔子：“岳寿，谁想你浑家将你尸骸烧化了，我如今着你借尸还魂，尸骸是小李屠，魂灵是岳寿。”《铁拐李》第四折：“您众人听着，这的是李屠的尸首，岳寿的魂灵，我着他借尸还魂来。”

【成语故事】三国时期曾发生过一次有名的赤壁大战，通过这次战争，刘备军队的实力变得强大了，但是，与曹操的军队相比，其实力还是不够雄厚。当时，刘备和孙权都把眼睛盯在四川这块肥沃的土地上，那里地理位置好，资源又丰富，是建功立业的好地方。但是当时曹操统一中原的决心已定，他牵制住了孙权的力量。因此，刘备和孙权一时无法对四川展开攻势，谋划未来。公元215年，四川益州的刘璋集团正面临内部争权夺利、分崩离析的危险。刘璋很怕曹操趁这个时候攻打四川，心想，不如请自家的同姓兄弟刘备过来，共同抵御曹操，抗衡来自曹操方面的压力。刘备收到刘璋的邀请后，非常高兴，心想这不正是自己进军四川的大好时机吗？于是，他派关羽留守荆州，自己率领一万多名士兵进入益州。刘璋推举刘备为大司马领司隶校尉，自己为镇西大将军兼益州牧。但是，刘璋的这个如意算盘并没有打多长时间。有一天，刘备接到荆州的来信，说曹操已经发动兵力侵犯孙权统治下的江东。此时，刘备想请刘璋派三万精兵、十万斛军粮前去助战。但是，刘璋怕这样做会削弱自己的力量，只同意派三千老兵前去救援。这时，刘备就乘机大骂刘璋：“我为了你去抵抗曹操，你却吝惜自己的私人利益，我怎么能和你这种人合作呢？”于是刘备乘机向刘璋宣战，完成了占领四川的计划。在这个故事中，刘备就是借助刘璋这个“尸”，占据四川，为以后建立蜀国打下了坚实的基础。

【寓意】该成语原意是指迷信的人们相信人死之后灵魂会借他人的尸体复活的传说。现喻指某些已经消亡的陈旧事物通过借助某种形式重新出现或者发展，或者某些思想或现象改头换面重新出现。

借尸还魂
To Revive in a New Guise

25.To Revive in a New Guise

【Idiomatic Story】There happened a famous battle named Chi-bi Campaign in the Three Kingdoms period.LIU Bei and his Group became more powerful after the battle.However，he was still weak compared to the CAO Cao Group at the time.Si-chuan was targeted by the CAO Cao Group in the north and the SUN Quan Group in the south because Si-chuan was considered as the Promised Land with fertile land，strategic position and rich in natural resources.

The CAO Cao Group had made up their mind to unify the central plains area，so he and his group had played the restraining function to the SUN Quan Group in the south.Both the CAO Cao Group and the SUN Quan Group could not attack and seize Si-chuan.

In 215 AD，LIU Zhang group stationed in Yi-zhou of Sichuan was in the trouble of internal strife for power，so LIU Zhang was in terror of being attacked by CAO Cao Group.Therefore，he thought of inviting his clan brother LIU Bei to station in Si-chuan for the joint defense against the CAO Cao Group.

Upon receiving the invitation of LIU Zhang，LIU Bei was quite pleased and thought it was a golden opportunity and a good excuse to go into Si-chuan.So he ordered his senior general GUAN Yu to station guarding Jin-zhou，and he himself commanded a troop of about 10，000 soldiers advancing on Yi-zhou.

Then LIU Zhang appointed LIU Bei as Grand General and proclaimed oneself as the General Governor of Yi-zhou.One day，LIU Bei got the news from Jin-zhou that CAO Cao commanded his troops to invade the Wu Kingdom of the SUN Quan Group in the south.LIU Bei asked LIU Zhang to offer help to defend the attack of CAO Cao in army and supplies.But LIU Zhang worried the safety of Yi-zhou，so he agreed to send only 3，000 soldiers to Jin-zhou for assistant defense.

LIU Bei was enraged by LIU Zhang's selfishness and non-cooperation attitude.So he decided to declare a war against the LIU Zhang Group，he soon captured the capital city in Si-chuan and completely control the area of Si-chuan.

In this story，LIU Bei survived by making use of the“dead body” of LIU Zhang，LIU Zhang had played the springboard for LIU Bei's success in founding the Sichuanbased Shu Kingdom.

【Implied Meaning】 It originally means that those who believe in superstition think the soul of a dean person can revive by means of borrowing the body of others.Now it is often used to refer to the reappearance of those extinct matters or phenomena by way of a new form or style.

【注释】

[1]匪：同“非”，即不，不是。

[2]童蒙：指幼稚无知、求师教诲的儿童。蒙，卦名，源于《易经·蒙》卦，即上艮下坎之卦象，上卦为艮为山，下卦为坎为水为险，山下有险，草木丛生，故说“蒙”。