Things I have learnt* from the Four Great Classical Chinese Novels** #1

In memorium - Lo Ping Lung

Water Margin (Book 1)

1. "Fear not officials - except those who officiate over you." (p.30)
   
2. "Of all the 36 ways to get out of trouble, the best way is - leave." (p.30-1)
   
3. Don't tweak the tiger's whiskers unless you can deal with the consequences. (Various pages.)
   
4. "With money you can reach even the gods." (p.204)
   
5. "Once a drunkard falls, he can't get up." (p.223)
6. "Without coincidence there would be no story." (p.494)
7. The five pre-conditions for seducing a woman are: (i) Being as handsome as Pan An; (ii) Having a tool as big as a donkey's; (iii) Being as rich as Deng Tong; (iv) Being as forbearing as a needle playing through cotton wool; (v) Spending time. (p.501)
8. "A close neighbour means more than a distant relative." (p.507)
9. "Nine out of ten women, no matter how clever they may be, invariably are taken in by small attentions and flattery." (p.508)

Water Margin (Book 2)

1. "Lust engenders boundless audacity." (p.946)
2. "Believe not that in straight fowardness there is only honesty. Beware, rather that evil lurks behind the guise of virtue." (p.946)
3. "Sober thoughts become drunken words." (p.964)

Water Margin (Book 3)

1. "Life and death are man's destiny." (p.1279)
2. "Better to stay at home than even one li roam." (p.1298)
3. "If there's a wasp in your bosom, pluck it out." (p.1467)
4. "Don't stir the grass and alarm the snake." (p.1467)
5. "Courtesans become intimate quickly, but they like new things and tire of the old. They've harmed countless talented men. They're as unstable as water." (p.1469)

Water Margin (Book 4)

1. "You don't kill a chicken with an ox-slaughtering knife." (p.1815)
2. "Nobody can carry his home with him." (p.1822)
3. "If a goose dies in flight, all utter cries of mourning, and none will ever harass a bereaved bird. This is virtue. When a fowl loses its mate, it never pairs again. This is righteousness. They fly in a definite order, each automatically taking its place. This is propriety. They avoid hawks and eagles, silently crossing the passes with reed sticks in their beaks. This is knowledge. They fly south in autumn and north in spring, every year without fail. This is faith." (p.1900)
4. "If the arrow point doesn't leave the bow, the shaft is sure to snap. The headless snake cannot crawl." (p.1906)
5. "A mature man is not without restraint; without restraint one cannot achieve maturity." (p.1908)

* This is an ongoing list.
** These are: Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and Dream of Red Mansions. There is also a fifth, The Plum in the Golden Vase, which is all about sex, and which I also intend to read.

---