Li à ng l ì r x í ng (pinyin: li à ng l ì r x í ng) is an idiom derived from historical stories. The relevant allusions of the idiom come from Zuo Chuan · Zhao Gong's Fifteen Years, written by Zuo Qiuming in the Spring and Autumn Period.[1]
"Act according to your ability" refers to doing things according to your ability. It can be used as a predicate in a sentence, also known as "act according to your ability".[1]
"Yin Gong · Yin Gong 11 Years": "Xu, fight without punishment, give up after serving, live with virtue, act according to one's ability, move with each passing moment, and do not tire future generations. It can be said that he knows propriety."[5]
Spring and Autumn·Zuoqiu Ming"Zuo Zhuan · Fifteen Years of Zhao Gong": "If you can, you can advance; otherwise, you can retreat[1]
Idiom stories
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During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Jin SchoolXun WuLed the army to attack Xianyu and surrounded the Kingdom of Drum.At that time, people from Ku Guoguo came to discuss with Xun Wu and offered to surrender to the State of Jin with the city, but Xun Wu refused.[2]
Xun Wu's subordinates felt incomprehensible and asked, "We can get the city without spending a single soldier. Why not accept it?"[2]
Xun Wu replied, "I heard Uncle Xiang said, 'Love and dislike are moderate. People know how to act, and nothing will fail.’If someone takes our city to betray to the enemy, we must hate it. Then why do we like others to take our city to betray? If we accept them and reward them, it is a reward for the behavior we hate;If we don't reward people any more, we will lose faith in others. How can we rule the people in the future? So we must rely on our own strength.If you have enough strength, take the city. If you don't have enough strength, take the initiative to withdraw.We cannot tolerate evil because we are greedy for the city. That will only lead to more losses. "[2]
Xun Wu told the people of the State of Drum about the traitors and asked them to kill them and repair the city.After the Jin army besieged for three months, the drum army guarding the city could not resist and sent people to ask for surrender.[2]
Xun Wu received the messengers and said to them, "From your looks, there is still food to eat. Go back and build the fortifications and continue to resist."[2]
Xun Wu's generals said to him, "If you get the city but don't occupy it, it will make the army tired and materials consumed. Are you worthy of the king?"[2]
Xun Wu replied, "I did this for your consideration. If we get a city, the people are very dissatisfied with us. What's the use of such a city? We want to get a city, but we need to let the people know where morality and justice lie. The key is to be convinced."[2]
Later, the people of the State of Drum ran out of food and grass, and their strength ran out. Xun Wu accepted their surrender and occupied the State of Drum.[2]
Idiom Implications
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Xun and Wu led the army to attack the city of the Kingdom of Drum, making the Kingdom of Drum surrender wholeheartedly.In life, acting according to one's ability is a kind of wisdom, an understanding of oneself and the surrounding environment, and a minimum of methods to achieve maximum results.Everyone has his own limit. He only knows how to motivate himself with high goals, but does not consider whether he can achieve them. This is overestimation. Failure can only be doomed.In order to maximize the value of your life, you should consider the reality of your goals while using them to motivate yourself. You should not aim too high.We should learn to start from the most basic and subtle points, and act according to our ability, so that we can gradually realize our ideals.People must try their best to do what they can and try their best to do it with high goals as the direction of efforts;But if you can't do it, you should also be prepared to get the worst result. If you do everything according to your needs and capabilities, you will have no regrets in this life.[3]
Use of Idioms
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Written usage
"Do as you can" can serve as a predicate in a sentence;It refers to doing things according to your ability.[1]
Application examples
Tang Dynasty·Wu Jing"The Source of Kaiyuan Shengping": "I should do as I can, but I will decide whether or not."[1]
Song Dynasty·Xue JuzhengSuch as The History of the Old Five Dynasties, Vol. 72, The Book of the Tang Dynasty, The Biography of Zhang Chengye: "You can't rely on your ability to do things."[1]
Modern·Ye Shengtao"Professor of English": "As far as you are concerned, you can donate as much as you can."[1]
Analysis of Idioms
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Do as you can - as you can
"As far as you can" means what you can do within your own strength."Do as you can" and "Do as you can" both mean to do things according to your own strength, but there are differences in meaning: "Do as you can" focuses on doing things according to your own strength, and "Do as you can" focuses on doing things according to the extent and scope of your own strength."Do what you can" means doing something, but "do what you can" does not mean doing it.[4]
