Idiom Explanation:
Although old, but stronger in ambition and body. Now quoted as older, physically and mentally more vigorous or more energetic.
Pronunciation:
老当益壮
lǎo dāng yì zhuàng
Origin:
南朝·宋·范晔《后汉书·马援传》：“丈夫为志，穷当益坚，老当益壮。”
Story:
Han Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu seized the kingdom by force, and he had a group of generals and strategists who came from powerful landlords, all of whom had helped Emperor Guangwu fight the world with great success, and there were twenty-eight of them with the greatest merits. After the death of Emperor Guangwu, his son, Emperor Ming of Han, Liu Zhuang, painted the portraits of the twenty-eight men on the head of the Southern Palace, called “the twenty-eight generals of the head”. But in addition to the twenty-eight generals, there was another great general whose name did not remain on the Pantai, but was very famous in history. This man is Ma Yuan.
During the reign of Wang Mang, Ma Yuan was the governor of Fufeng County. Once, the county governor sent him to send prisoners to Chang’an, halfway, he saw the prisoners crying, so he let them go, he also lost his official, fled to the northern county to hide. For a living, Ma Yuan farmed and raised several thousand head of cattle and sheep in a few years, and saved a lot of food. But he did not want to stay there to live a “sunrise, sunset,” the idyllic life. He had the world in mind and often said, “A man should have great ambition. The poorer you are, the stronger you are, and the older you are, the stronger you are.” Later, Wang Mang regime collapsed, Ma Yuan defected to Liu Xiu, has been the general of Longxi, General Fubo, conquered the north and south, and made a lot of battle achievements.
In the autumn of 44 A.D., Ma Yuan returned from the war, and someone said to him, “You have worked hard enough, it is better to rest and recuperate at home.” Ma Yuan said passionately, “No, now the Xiongnu and Wuhuan are still rebellious, I am about to ask the emperor to defend the north. Manly man, death should die on the frontier, let others wrapped in horse leather corpse sent back to bury mang. How can I stay at home and live with my wife and children?” Then he went to the battlefield.
Soon after the north was pacified, a tribe invaded from the south (at the border of Hunan and Guizhou), and Emperor Guangwu sent troops twice to conquer it, but they were defeated by the tribe. At that time, Ma Yuan was already sixty-two years old, but still requested that he be allowed to lead the troops to the war.
Emperor Guangwu took a look at Ma Yuan and saw that his beard was graying, so he said, “General is old, so don’t go!” However, Ma Yuan refused to accept his old age, so he put on his Kai armor in front of the palace, straddled his war horse, and gallantly ran back and forth. Emperor Guangwu could not help but exclaim, “What a hardened old man!” So he sent him to lead two generals, Ma Wu and Geng Shu, and 40,000 men to attack Wu Xi. When Ma Yuan’s army arrived at Wuxi, many soldiers died of heat stroke because they were not well adapted to the southern climate, and Ma Yuan himself became ill and finally died in the army, fulfilling his ambition of wrapping his body in horse leather.
Because of Ma Yuan’s straightforward nature, offended the villain, so he brought back a cart of barley from the war in Jiaotui was said to be a cart of pearls and treasures, and the general court ministers think: “Well, you brought back a cart of jewelry, but also do not share a little with us, too petty.” They reported Ma Yuan’s embezzlement, making Guangwu furious. Ma Yuan’s family did not dare to welcome him back for burial, many guests of the deceased did not even dare to go to the funeral.
Similar Idioms:
- 老而弥坚
