[English]
Hello everyone, welcome to "Daily Chinese"!
I am Wang Yu.
Hello everyone, my name is Li Ming.
Wang Yu, you look very happy today.
Is there anything good you can do?
Of course!
Li Ming, look, below our last video,
there is a comment from a listener friend, which is very interesting.
Oh? What comment?
Let’s talk and listen.
is one of our listener friends, whose name is very cute,
is Cherry Cherry.
She asked us in English if we could talk about
"Yue Lao", which is the topic of Yue Lao.
She also sent a heart, which was very cute.
Ah, Yue Lao! This is a really good topic.
Very Chinese characteristics and very romantic.
It seems like we have never talked about this.
Yes!
So, when I saw this comment, I thought,
We must make a show about Yue Lao.
Thank you very much Cherry Cherry!
Your suggestion is great!
Yes, thank you very much.
Let's fulfill this friend's wish today,
and let's talk about this topic with you: Yue Lao and Red Thread,
Who is your destiny?
Okay! Let's get started!
Li Ming, let me ask you a question first.
Do you believe in Yue Lao?
Well...that's a good question.
I think this is a beautiful story.
But when it comes to "believe"...
Maybe I prefer to think of it as a beautiful culture,
a kind of hope.
What about you?
Wang Yu, you look like a very romantic person at first glance,
You must believe it, right?
(laughing), you discovered it!
Of course I believe it!
I think if you can get to know someone, then fall in love with him,
and end up together,
there must be a special fate in it.
Maybe Yue Lao is helping!
It seems that the two of us have different ideas.
However, many listeners may not know who Yue Lao is.
Wang Yu, why don't you give us a brief introduction first?
No problem!
In Chinese mythology, Yuelao is a god.
He is an old man with white hair and beard.
He looks very kind.
Yes, we usually call him "Old Man under the Moon",
which means the old man under the moonlight.
He is not a very serious god, but a very kind and
very cute grandfather.
Yes. This old man’s job is very important!
He is responsible for marriage matters in the human world.
In other words, he is in charge of who becomes husband and wife.
...
How can he care?
He has two very important things.
I know! The first thing is a book, right?
This book is called "Marriage Book".
It says who everyone in the world will marry.
Exactly right.
What about the second thing?
This one is more famous.
Of course it’s the red line!
Yue Lao has a bag filled with red thread.
He will use an invisible red thread to
tie the feet of two men and women who are destined to be together.
Right. The two people may be far apart now,
may not know each other at all, and they may even hate each other.
But because of this red thread,
they will eventually come together and become husband and wife.
I think the idea of this red thread is really romantic!
Think about it, somewhere in this world, there is a person,
His feet are tied with the same red thread as you.
No matter where you are, we will meet one day.
Isn’t this very exciting?
It is indeed very romantic.
So in China, the word "red line"
represents the fate between men and women.
For example, if a friend
wants to help you introduce a boyfriend or girlfriend,
we can joke that he wants to "lead the red line" for you.
That’s right! "Pull the red thread" is to help two people get to know each other in the hope that they can be together.
...
So, to put it simply,
Yuelao is the Chinese "Cupid",
but he doesn't use arrows, he uses red thread.
This metaphor is very good.
But I think they are still a little different.
Cupid's arrow seems to make two people suddenly fall in love.
But Yue Lao's red thread,
is to connect two people who are destined to be together.
Well, you are right.
Yue Lao emphasized the feeling of "fate".
Speaking of Yue Lao, I remember there is a
very famous story about him,
right?
It seems to be about a young man.
Yes, this is the most famous story.
There is a young man named Wei Gu in the story.
This story also explains why we believe in Yue Lao so much.
Tell us about it!
Okay.
The story is this: In the Tang Dynasty a long time ago,
there was a young man named Wei Gu.
He lost his parents very early,
so he especially wanted to get married early and have a family of his own.
Well, that’s understandable.
One day, he met a man,
The man said he wanted to introduce a girl to Wei Gu.
They made an appointment to meet at the gate of a temple the next morning.
Wei Gu was very happy. Before dawn the next day,
he went to that place.
He is very anxious!
Yes.
When he arrived, it was still dark and the moon was still in the sky.
He saw an old man sitting on the steps of the temple.
This old man is leaning on a bag,
reading a book in the moonlight.
This old man must be Yue Lao!
That's right.
Wei Gu was very curious, so he walked over and asked: "Old man,
what book are you reading?
I have read many books since I was a child,
but I have never seen your book."
What did the old man answer?
The old man smiled and said: "This is not a book from the world,
This is a book from heaven.
I am in charge of the marriages of everyone in the world."
Wow! He told Wei Gu directly.
Yes. Wei Gu was even more surprised,
asked again: "Then what's in your bag?"
The old man replied: "It's red thread.
I used these red threads
to tie the feet of the destined couple together.
They will be inseparable.
"Does Wei Gu believe it?
He was dubious.
But he happened to be anxious about his marriage,
so he asked the old man:
"Then...who is my wife?"
This is a good question!
I want to ask too!
(laughing). The old man read the book and
said to Wei Gu: "Your wife,
is the daughter of the old woman selling vegetables over there."
The daughter of the vegetable seller? How about it?
Is it beautiful?
Wei Gu looked in the direction the old man pointed,
and saw a very poor old woman,
holding a little girl about three years old.
The little girl was dressed in rags,
and she didn't look good.
Huh? This...
Wei Gu must be unhappy, right?
He was very angry.
He felt that he was a scholar and would be a high official in the future.
How could he marry a poor and ugly girl as his wife?
He felt that the old man was lying to him.
What then? What did he do?
He did a very bad thing.
He called his servant,
said to the servant: "Go and kill that little girl.
If you can do it, I will give you a lot of money."
Oh my God! How could he do this!
That little girl is so pitiful.
Yes. His servant ran over with a knife,
stabbed the little girl on the forehead in the crowd,
and then ran away immediately.
Because there were many people in the market,
he did not succeed in killing the girl, but only injured her.
Fortunately, she was not killed.
This Wei Gu is really bad.
After that, Wei Gu quickly left there because of fear.
Many years have passed since this incident.
Year after year, Wei Gu wanted to get married,
but never succeeded.
This is retribution!
Maybe.
After more than ten years, Wei Gu, through his own efforts,
really became a moderate official.
His boss thinks he works hard and is a nice person,
likes him very much.
This boss has a daughter, who is about sixteen or seventeen years old.
She is very beautiful.
The boss decided to marry his daughter to Wei Gu.
Of course Wei Gu is very happy, right?
He was so happy!
He felt that his luck had finally come.
On the wedding day, he saw his bride,
She was really beautiful.
However, he discovered a strange place.
Where?
His wife always puts a small flower between her eyebrows,
that is, in the middle of her forehead.
I don’t take it off even when I sleep.
Wei Gu felt very strange.
Is it for beauty?
He thinks so too, but it's a bit abnormal to do it every day.
After a long time, he finally couldn't help but ask his wife:
"Why do you put a flower on your forehead every day?"
What did his wife say?
After hearing this, his wife said a little sadly:
"Because I have a scar on my forehead.
When I was young, about three years old,
I followed my nanny to the market one day. I don’t know why,
Suddenly a bad guy ran over and
stabbed my forehead with a knife, leaving a scar.
In order to cover this scar, I can only wear flowers every day. "
Ah! So...
Wei Gu was shocked when he heard this.
He asked his wife again:
"Is your nanny an old woman selling vegetables? "
His wife said in surprise: "Yes, how do you know?" "
Oh my God! It turns out she was the little girl back then!
That's right. It was only at this time that Wei Gu finally understood that
Every word that the old man under the moonlight
said was true.
Fate is destined and cannot be changed.
He felt very regretful and also felt very lucky.
Later, he told everyone this story.
From then on, people all know that Yue Lao is deciding everyone's marriage.
...
Wow, this story is really amazing.
Although Wei Gu was bad at the beginning,
but the end result is still good.
This also tells us that we can't hurt others casually,
Maybe that person has a deep connection with you. The core of this story is the word "fate".
...
...
Li Ming, this story happened in the Tang Dynasty a long time ago.
Now, in the 21st century, do young people in China still believe in the story of Yue Lao and Red Line?
...
...
I think if you ask a young person:
"Do you believe in Yue Lao?" "
He might smile and say: "This is a fairy tale. ”
However, the behavior of many people shows that
they still believe it in their hearts.
For example?
For example, in China now, many young people,
especially those who want to find a boyfriend or girlfriend,
will go to temples to worship Yue Lao.
They think this can bring them good luck.
Yes, yes! I have been to some famous temples.
The place where people worship Yue Lao is always the most popular one!
Everyone wants to find a good marriage.
I heard that
the Yue Lao there is particularly famous.
...
Yes, this culture has become a part of life,
...
It's more of a psychological comfort and hope.
I agree.
...
Li Ming, I think the word "fate" may be a bit difficult for many Chinese learners.
...
It's not just "fate" or "destiny" in English, right?
...
You are absolutely right.
This is a good question, and
it is also something that many learners get confused about.
The word "fate" is really difficult to translate.
It also includes time,
place and people.
Can you explain it more specifically?
...
For example, can you be with a person at the right time?
Meeting in the right place is a kind of fate.
You may have lived in the same city for many years,
but never met.
But one day,
you met and got to know each other in a cafe,
and this is the beginning of fate.
I understand.
So fate is more like a very coincidental and magical encounter.
Yes. And fate is not only used in love.
We also say "We are really destined".
For example, we can work together on the "Daily Chinese" podcast,
...
...
This is also a great fate.
I feel very warm when you say this! I have heard a saying that fate is like a book,
...
you don't know what will be written on the next page,
but every page is worth looking forward to.
This metaphor is really good.
It tells us to cherish every encounter.
Because every encounter may be destined.
So, back to your question, today's young people
may not fully believe that Yue Lao is a real immortal.
But we all believe in the power of "fate".
Well, the concept of fate is really a very beautiful and
...
very core part.
Oh, time flies.
It feels like we have just started talking.
...
Before the end,
Let me briefly summarize what we talked about today.
Okay!
Today we mainly talked about three things.
Who is Yue Lao?
He is the god responsible for marriage.
He used a red thread to connect the two destined people.
Second, we shared the famous story of Wei Gu.
This story tells us that fate cannot be changed.
Third, we talked about how modern young people
view Yuelao and fate. We know
how important the word "fate" is in Chinese culture.
That sums it up really well.
If you want to review today's content,
or want to see how the Chinese characters in the story are written,
we have put the complete text of today's podcast
on our blog.
The blog's address is
chinesedailypodcast.blogspot.com.
Yes, everyone is welcome to read and learn.
So listeners, today’s question is:
Do you believe in fate?
In your country, is there a "god of love" like Yue Lao?
What is his story?
Welcome to leave us a message below,
share your ideas and culture!
We look forward to reading your comments.
Thank you everyone for listening, see you in the next issue!
Goodbye!