Idiom Explanation:
Can’t see anything special about this person, but He/She can amaze the world with a single shot.
Pronunciation:
一鸣惊人
yī míng jīng rén
origin:
《韩非子·喻老》：“虽无飞，飞必冲天；虽无鸣，鸣必惊人。”
story:
During the Warring States period, there was a man named Chun Yu Kun in the state of Qi. He was very eloquent and good at talking, and he often used some interesting cryptic words to advise the ruler, so that the king was not only not angry, but also happy to accept them.
At that time, King Wei of Qi was originally a very wise ruler, but after his reign, he was obsessed with wine and sex and did not care about the affairs of state, but only drank and had fun every day, while leaving all the important matters to his ministers and not caring about them himself. As a result, politics was not on track, officials were corrupt and negligent, and the vassals of other countries took advantage of the opportunity to invade the state of Qi. Although some patriots of Qi were very worried, no one rushed out to advise them because they were afraid of the king of Qi.
In fact, King Wei of Qi was a very wise man who liked to speak cryptic words to show his wisdom. Although he did not like to listen to others’ advice, he would accept it if it was right. Knowing this, Chun Yu Kuan thought of a plan to find an opportunity to advise King Wei of Qi.
One day, Chun Yu Kuan met King Wei of Qi and said to him, “Your Majesty, I have a riddle for Chen to ask you to guess: A big bird from his country has been living in the court of the king for three whole years, but he neither takes wing to fly nor does he make a name, but just curls up without any purpose, guess what kind of bird is it?” King Wei of Qi was a wise man, and he knew that Chun Yu Guan was sarcastically saying that he was like that big bird, that he was the king of a country, but he did nothing but enjoy himself, and that he was no longer a faint-hearted king, so after pondering for a while he resolutely decided to change his ways, to pull himself up and do something great, so he said to Chun Yu Guan, “Well, this one You don’t know this, but if it doesn’t fly, it will rush to the sky, and if it doesn’t sing, it will startle the people.
From then on, King Wei of Qi did not indulge in drinking and pleasure, but began to reorganize the state. First of all, he summoned all the officials in the country and rewarded those who were loyal and responsible, while punished those who were corrupt and incompetent. As a result, the whole country was soon revitalized and filled with vigor and vitality. On the other hand, he also proceeded to reorganize the military, strengthen the force, and establish the prestige of the country. When the vassals heard this news, they were shocked and did not dare to invade again, and even returned all the lands they had occupied to Qi.
The idiom of “one voice is amazing” was used later to describe a person with extraordinary talent, which, once put to good use, often led to amazing results.
Similar Idioms:
- 一举成名
- 一步登天
