司马光 The Story of Sima Guang - Intermediate

The story of a young historical personality depicting his astute character.

This is the story of Sima Guang (1019 - 1086 CE), a famous Chinese historian and politician.

During his younger years, Sima Guang famously exhibited a quick response to save another young boy from drowning after he fell into a large jar of water.

This is one rendition of a story passed down through Chinese history for centuries.

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Story breakdown by paragraph with vocabulary and audio

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司马光 = a person’s name （司马 = Sima; a family name. This is one of several two-character family names.)

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古时候 = During the classical times

有个孩子 = There was a child (Understand 有 as “there is/are.” But when following the time frame in context, “During the classical times,” we understand it in the past tense.)

叫 = to call, be called (他叫 = he is called, was called)

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有一回 = 有一次；one time

花园 = a garden, park (see“Character Radical” below)

假山 = a false mountain

一口水缸 = a terracotta water jar (口 is a measure word for jars, wells, some animals and people)

装满 = to fill full (lit. to load-full)

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爬 = to climb

一不小心 = not careful, a moment of inattentiveness

掉进 = to fall into (lit. fall-enter)

水缸 = a terracotta water jar

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慌 = to panic

吓哭 = to be frightened and cry (lit. scare-cry)

叫着 = calling (叫 - to call; 着 after a verb creates a gerund-like verb form. I.e. calling)

喊着 = hollering

跑去找 = to run and go look for

大人 = adults

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举起 = to raise up

使劲 = with force (lit. to use or exert force)

砸 = to break, smash

几下子 = 几次; several times (几 usually expresses a question, sometimes it means “several” or “a few.”)

把缸砸破 = break the terracotta jar (for more information on the usage of “把“ click here.)

Let’s take a closer look.

The English translation shows the characters following English, arranged by meaning.

司马光没有慌，(Sima Guang 司马光 didn’t 没有 panic 慌,)

他举起一块石头，(he 他 lifted up 举起 (raised up) a rock 一块石头,)

使劲砸那口缸，(forcefully 使劲 smashed 砸 the terracotta jar 那口缸,)

几下子就把缸砸破了。([and] broke the terracotta jar 把缸砸破了 [with] just 就 a few smashes 几下子. Note: 几下子 - the character make-up of this means “a few times,” but with the context of it relating to using a rock to smash the jar, it can be understood as “a few smashes.” Click here for more information on the usage of 几 to ask a question.)

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流出来 = to come flowing out (流 = to flow; 出 = out; 来 = to come)

得救 = to be saved (得 = to receive, get; 救 = to save [life])

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Character Radical:

艹 = This is the “grass head” radical, 草字头 cǎo zì tóu. When you see this radical above a character, it tells you that the character most likely has something to do with vegetation and flowers. Consider “花园“ in the story.

Yin-yang Character Groups:

• 有无 yǒu wú = have-have not, exist-not exist

• 真假 zhēn jiǎ = true-false, real-fake

• 进出 jìn chū = enter-exit, in-out; turnover

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