Proverb Interpretation:
It means not daring to go beyond certain boundaries, mostly referring to conservative and constrained practices or behaviours.
origin:
During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China, Yu Liang was in charge of the imperial government. In order to prevent the invasion of enemies on the western border, Yu Liang sent Wen Peak to the area of Jiujiang in today’s Jiangxi Province to take charge of the defence of Jiangzhou. Not long after, Yu Liang got the news that another governor, Su Jun, was secretly plotting a rebellion. Yu Liang took matters into his own hands and tried to trick Su Jun into coming to Kyoto and arresting him, but the ploy did not succeed and instead accelerated the speed of Su Jun’s rebellion. Soon, the rebel army led by Su Jun headed for Kyoto.
Meanwhile, Wen Peak also got the news of Su Jun’s rebellion and planned to return by water to protect the safety of Kyoto. However, Yu Liang wrote to Wen Peak saying, “I am more worried about the enemy on the western border, you must stay where you are and do not take a step beyond Lei Chi.” Lei Chi was a place name at that time, so called because in ancient times, the thunder water flowed eastward to this place and accumulated to form a pond. Yu Liang meant that Wen Peak should never cross Lei Chi to bring the garrison to Kyoto, and that he himself was capable of repelling the rebels.
However, Yu Liang’s estimation was wrong, and the rebels organised by Su Jun quickly captured Kyoto. Yu Liang had to go to the highest peak of Wen after his great defeat. Wen Peak did not blame Yu Liang, but asked him to lead some of his soldiers to guard the base camp, while he himself started to train his navy to prepare for the battle with Su Jun.
Su Jun’s rebels soon surrounded Wen Peak’s camp. Yu Liang, who was in charge of guarding the camp, was brave enough to lead 2,000 soldiers to fight against 10,000 rebels, and after a bloody battle, he was able to repel the enemy with fewer soldiers than many. Afterwards, Wen Peak led well-trained sailors to join Yu Liang, and the two of them led the army together, pursued the attack, and finally defeated Su Jun, recaptured Kyoto, and pacified the rebellion. Yu Liang made up for his initial command blunder with his own actions.
There are two versions of the location of Lei Chi: one says that it is in the southeast of Wangjiang County, Anhui Province, China, close to the north bank of the Yangtze River. One says that it is Longxian Lake, which is shared by Huangmei in Hubei Province and Susong in Anhui Province.
