Be There Just to Make up the Number

During the Warring States Period (475-221BC)， the King of the State of Qi was very fond of listening to yu ensembles. He often got together 300 yu players to form a grand musical performance. The king treated his musicians very well. A man named Nanguo heard about that and he managed to become a member of the band， even though he was not good at playing the instrument at all. Whenever the band played for the king， Nanguo just stood in the line and pretended to play. Nobody realized he was making no sound at all. As a result， he enjoyed his treatment just as the other musicians did. When the king died， his son became the new ruler who also liked the music played on the yu. However， he preferred solos so that he ordered the musicians to play the yu one by one. Therefore， Nanguo had to run out of the palace.

The idiom “Be there just to make up the number” is used to mock someone who passes for a specialist. You can also hear people saying it about themselves to show their modesty.

濫竽充數(shù)

戰(zhàn)國時，齊宣王喜歡聽竽，通常是三百人的大合奏。因?yàn)樗o予樂師非常優(yōu)厚的待遇，所以一個叫南郭的人盡管并不擅長吹竽，也設(shè)法混進(jìn)樂隊(duì)。當(dāng)樂隊(duì)演奏時，他就站在隊(duì)伍里假裝也在吹。沒有人注意到其實(shí)他連一點(diǎn)聲音也沒吹出來，所以南郭也享受到和其他樂師一樣的待遇。宣王死后，他的兒子繼承了王位。他也喜歡聽竽，可是他喜歡聽獨(dú)奏，讓樂師一個個吹給他聽，于是南郭不得不逃跑了。

“濫竽充數(shù)”這個成語用來嘲笑那些沒有真正才干，混在行家里的人。人們有時也用“濫竽充數(shù)”來表示自謙。

To Penetrate One Centimeter into the Wood

Wang Xizhi is one of the most famous calligraphers during the Eastern Jin Dynasty of China. When he was very young， he practiced his art every day and never stopped.

Later he absorbed the strengths of all the other schools of calligraphy， and developed his own unique style of writing. Because of his achievements， he has been honored as one of China’s sages of calligraphy. One time， Wang Xizhi sketched in wood for an engraver to cut. Then the engraver found the ink had penetrated one centimeter into the wood.

“Ru Mu San Fen” is got from this story， which means the calligraphy is penetrating.

Now it is often used to describe expressing sharp ideas or profound views.

入木三分

王羲之是中國東晉時代一個很有名的書法家，他從小就刻苦練字，從不間斷，以后又吸取了各個不同書法流派的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，形成他自己獨(dú)特的風(fēng)格。因?yàn)樗跁ㄉ系某删?，人們都尊稱他為中國書法界的“圣人”。

有一次，王羲之在木板上刻字，后來刻字的人發(fā)現(xiàn)墨汁滲入木板有三尺深。

“入木三分”就是從這個故事中得出來的，用來形容書法有力，現(xiàn)在多用來比喻分析問題很深刻。