《远交近攻》出处、故事、英文翻译、注释

20.远交近攻

yuǎn jiāo jìn gōng

【出处】《三十六计》第二十三计：形禁势格^[1]，利以近取。害以远隔，上火下泽^[2]。西汉刘向《战国策·秦策三》：“王不如远交而近攻，得寸则王之寸，得尺亦王之尺也。”清代陈忱《水浒后传》第七回：“莫若以纳辽之币归之于金，坐复燕云故土，正合远交近攻之计。”

【成语故事】战国末期，齐、楚、燕、韩、赵、魏、秦这七个诸侯国相互争夺霸主地位。其中，经过商鞅变法之后的秦国，发展最快。于是，秦昭王开始计划吞并其他六国，在中原树立自己的霸主地位。公元前270年，秦昭王准备起兵攻打齐国。为了提高攻打齐国的成功率，秦国有位名叫范雎的大臣向秦昭王出谋划策。范雎说：“齐国势力强大，而且距离我们秦国又这么远，如果先攻打齐国的话，我们的军队肯定要经过韩国和魏国。那么我们的军队派少了，就难以取得胜利；要多派军队的话，就算打败了齐国，我们也无法占领齐国的土地，因为中间还隔着韩国和魏国呢。依我看，我们不如先攻打韩、魏这两个邻近的国家，然后一步步向齐国推进，最后灭了齐国。”不仅如此，为了防止齐国与韩、魏结成盟国，秦昭王抢先派使者主动去和齐国结盟。从那以后的十多年中，秦始皇继续坚持这个策略，和相隔较远的楚国和平交往，先攻下魏国，然后又发动进攻，打败赵、燕两国，统一了北方。接着，秦国又打败了楚国，平定了南方。最后，齐国也被秦国征服了。这十年多来，秦始皇不停地和其他国家打仗，终于实现了统一中国的愿望。

【寓意】该成语原意是指与距离较远的国家建立和发展友好关系，然后攻打邻近的国家，使之相互不能结盟，排除干扰，便于采取行动，以达到各个击破的预期目的。现用来喻指人们为人处世的方式和手段。

远交近攻
To Befriend to the Distant for Isolating the Neighboring

20.To Befriend to the Distant for Isolating the Neighboring

【Idiomatic Story】 During the last years of the Warring States period，all the Seven Warring States，including the Qi State，the Chu State，the Yan State，the Han State，the Zhao State，the Wei State and the Qin State，were competing with one another for being the most powerful state.Thanks to the Shang-yang Reform，the Qin State developed strikingly among the seven States.King Zhao-wang of the Qin State planned to secure the over-lordship and take over the other six States at last.

In 270 BC，King Zhao-wang of the Qin State had made full preparation for the military invasion onto the Qi State primarily.Before taking action，one chancellor named FAN Sui proposed some tactical arrangements for King Zhaowang.He said to the King，“The Qi State is a great power among the six States and it is at a far distance from our State.If we launch an attack onto the Qi State，we should pass the Han State and the Wei State.We are not sure for the victory if we send a small troop for the mission.But if we send a large troop for the mission，we still can not fully control the Qi State with the Han State and the Wei State between our two States even if we have won the war.Taking these into consideration，we should occupy the neighboring Han State and the Wei State primarily，and we can attempt to capture the Qi State later.”

King Zhao-wang approved the proposal offered by FAN Sui，and he sent emissary to the Qi State for establishing the good mutual relation ahead of the Han State and the Wei State.In the following decade，King Zhao-wang followed the same policy to foster cordial relations with the distant Chu State.Then King Zhao-wang launched an attack onto the Wei State and finally captured it.And the Zhao State and the Yan State were defeated successively in the following years and the unification of the north of China was completed.Then the Chu State was defeated for stabilizing the south of China.And the Qi State was finally conquered.

Thanks to the policy of “To Befriend to the Distant for Isolating the Neighboring”，the Qin State successfully achieved the unification of China by gobbling up the six States one after another in over ten years.

【Implied Meaning】It originally means to establish a good relationship with the distant countries to ensure no alliance made between them.So when the attack was launched onto the neighboring countries，there would be no hindrance.Now it is often used to refer to the strategies or ways in dealing with interpersonal relationship.

【注释】

[1]格：阻碍，隔阂。

[2]上火下泽：上面是火，下面是水，各安其位，互不干扰的平和态势。