四面楚歌
Four sides of the song
Xiang Yu and Liu Bang originally agreed to use the divide as the boundary and not infringe each other. Later, Liu Bang listened to the advice of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping. He felt that he should destroy Xiangyu when he was weak. Then, he going with Han Xin, Peng Yue and Liu Jia would join forces to pursue the Xiang Yu troops who were heading east to Pengcheng. Finally, several layers of troops were arranged, and Xiang Yu was tightly wrapped around his knees .
项羽和刘邦原来约定以鸿沟(在今河南荣县境贾鲁河)东西边作为界限,互不侵犯。后来刘邦听从张良和陈平的规劝,觉得应该趁项羽衰弱的时候消灭他,就又和韩信、彭越、刘贾会合兵力追击正在向东开往彭城(即今江苏徐州)的项羽部队。终于布置了几层兵力,把项羽紧紧围在垓下(在今安徽灵璧县东南)。
At this time, Xiang Yu’s soldiers were few and the food was gone. In the night, he heard that the army surrounded by him surrounded the folk songs. He couldn’t help but be surprised to say: "Is Liu Bang already getting Chu? Why there are so many Chu people in his army?" After fighting, he got up from the bed, drank in the camp, and sang with his favorite nephew, Yu Ji.
这时,项羽手下的兵士已经很少,粮食又没有了。夜里听见四面围住他的军队都唱起楚地的民歌,不禁非常吃惊地说:“刘邦已经得到了楚地了吗?为什么他的部队里面楚人这么多呢?”说看,心里已丧失了斗志,便从床上爬起来,在营帐里面喝酒,并和他最宠爱的妃子虞姬一同唱歌。
After singing, he shed tears, and the people on the side were very sad. Yu Ji was swayed by Xiang Yu’s horse, and Xiang Yu’s heroic road ended with only the remaining soldiers to Wujiang, eventually squatted on the river.
唱完,直掉眼泪,在一旁的人也非常难过,都觉得抬不起头来。虞姬自刎于项羽的马前,项羽英雄末路,带了仅剩兵卒至乌江,最终自刎于江边。
For now, people will use the word "four sides of the song" to describe people suffering from various attacks or persecutions, and they are trapped in an isolated and embarrassing situation.
从此以后人们就用“四面楚歌”这个词,形容人们遭受各方面攻击或逼迫,而陷于孤立窘迫的境地。