Idiom Explanation:
The complete idiom of “Jiang Tai Gong Fishing, the one who wishes to take the bait”(姜太公钓鱼，愿者上钩), which is a metaphor for someone who willingly takes the bait.
Pronunciation:
姜太公钓鱼，愿者上钩
jiāng tài gōng diào yú, yuàn zhě shàng gōu
Origin:
《武王伐纣平话》：“姜尚因命守时，立钩钓渭水之鱼，不用香饵之食，离水面三尺， 尚自言曰：‘负命者上钩来！’”
Story:
In the eleventh century B.C., Jiang Shang, an eighty-year-old man who had served as a dowager of the Shang Dynasty, abandoned his post and fled to Xiqi because he saw that King Zhou was despicable and unethical, and wanted to join Xi Bo Ji Chang, but he was afraid of being laughed at.
One day, while he was fishing at the Wei River, a woodcutter, Wu Ji, passed by carrying firewood and saw him fishing with a straight hook, three feet away from the surface of the water, and no bait hanging from the hook.
Jiang Shang replied, “The surname is Jiang Shang, the word Ziya, No. Zheng Xiong.” Wu Ji sighed and said, “Really have the will to be high, no strategy empty words a hundred years. Such a foolish person like you, and still call yourself Zheng Xiong, really does not match!” Jiang Shang smiled faintly: “I’m not fishing, I’m waiting for an opportunity to enter the real thing. However, in order to catch the king and the marquis, it is better to take in the straight than to seek in the curve!” Wu Ji said, “You are not like a king or a marquis, but like a live monkey.” After saying this, he picked up the firewood stretcher and went into the city.
When Wu Ji entered the city and killed the sergeant at the gate, he was in great trouble. The old mother was desperate, so she brought Wu Ji to Jiang Shang to ask for advice on how to save her. Jiang Shang taught him to do this and that. From then on, Wu Ji only worked in the countryside and never entered the city.
Time flies, and before he knew it, it was spring again. One day, Xibo came to the Wei River to go hunting. Suddenly, he heard someone singing: “The phoenix is not lacking and the lion is not absent, but contemplating the pollution of the world. The tigers are so strong that the world is slow to find a virtuous path. ……” Ji Chang ordered the singer to be found, and when he saw that it was Wu Ji, he shouted, “How dare you deceive me and sing here instead of coming to collect your punishment?” Ji Chang thought that Jiang Shang must be a wise man, so he immediately pardoned Wu Ji’s death and ordered him to lead the way to the river to visit Jiang Shang. In order to test Ji Chang’s sincerity, Jiang Shang ignored him and took refuge in the reeds. Ji Chang was so eager to seek the virtuous that three days later, he appointed Wu Ji as General Wu De, led the way again, and personally led all the officials to visit Jiang Shang again, and was appointed as Tai Gong.
Jiang Shang assisted King Wen, followed King Wu to conquer Zhou and finally established the Zhou Dynasty. Later, people derived the idiom of “Tai Gong Fishing” from this story, which is often used in conjunction with “the one who wishes to take the bait”.
