An old man plays a bad hand well and becomes viral sensation
A 66-year-old disabled Chinese villager does well despite being dealt a bad hand in life
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Two obscure Chinese words filled Wechat moments, Weibo feeds, and Chinese media news alerts this week:
窜访 cuàn fǎng - ‘rogue visit’
二舅 èr jiù - ‘second uncle’
If you’ve still not had enough Taiwan coverage / noise, and you’re thirsty for a couple of classical but bloody Chinese idioms from Beijing about the ‘rogue visit’, then you can read my Phrase of the Week column in SupChina.
二舅 èr jiù - ‘second uncle’ - actually translates as ‘second youngest brother of my mother’ in Chinese.
He is the star of a short film by Chinese vlogger Yige Caixiang (衣戈猜想 yī gē cāi xiǎng) posted on Bilibili (哔哩哔哩) which went viral generating more than 10 million views on the platform.
The 10-minute film is a portrait of Yige’s resilient and resourceful uncle, his 二舅 èr jiù:
My uncle cured my internal anxieties 二舅治好了我的精神内耗 èr jiù zhì hǎole wǒ de jīngshén nèihào (Sina link to full text, see links section below for video link).
Yige tells us his uncle has been disabled his entire adult life due to a medical accident when he was a teenager.
And yet, we learn his 二舅 èr jiù has managed to have a successful career as a carpenter and cabinet maker having taught himself, adopt and raise a daughter, buy her a house, have an unexplained affair with a lady in the neighbouring village while supporting her family financially (including her husband) before they both died suddenly, cared for the vlogger’s grandmother who has recently fallen ill and become depressed, as well as being the person everyone calls on in his village when there’s something to fix.
The popularity of the film has been the topic of much discussion online. It’s simple production quality, the humorous narration of such a tragic story, that èr jiù doesn’t speak throughout, are all cited as reasons why it’s struck a chord.
But according the firm’s creator, it’s because he’s telling a story of success against all odds in a way that so many can relate to:
People say that life is not about playing a good hand well, but about playing a really bad hand well. Put simply, my uncle worked so hard, what reason do I have not to work as hard?
都说人生最重要的，不是胡一把好牌，而是打好一把烂牌。 简单概括就是，二舅都这样了还那么努力，我们有什么资格不努力？
There has also been online commentary that the story is a fake.
But the tale of 二舅 èr jiù is great content for learning Chinese through an authentic and human story of modern China.
So that’s what we’ll learn about this week!
What you’re missing in the member podcast
In this week’s member podcast you can listen 48 minutes of audio, including words and example sentences in native Chinese (at 21 mins 53 secs), and then the full audio of Yige’s short film (at 30 mins 10 secs) also in native Chinese. Sign up now to access it!
Favourite Five
1. 精神内耗 jīng shén nèi hào
anxious state of mind
许多网友在看完视频之后表示，自己的精神内耗被二舅治好了 - Many netizens after watching the video, felt much better about their own problems thanks to èr jiù‘s story.
2. 井里观天 jǐng lǐ guān tiān
looking at the sky from the bottom of a well
第二年二舅扔掉了手册从床上爬了下来，呆坐在天井里观天，像一只大号的青蛙 - After a year, my uncle decided to put the booklet down and get out of bed. He was like a huge frog at the bottom of a well looking at the sky.
Related: idioms with similar meaning and usage are 井底之蛙 jǐng dǐ zhī wā (a frog at the bottom of a well), and 坐井观天 zuò jǐng guān tiān (sitting in a well looking a the sky).
3. 生老病死 shēng lǎo bìng sǐ
birth, ageing, illness and death
中国人老说“生老病死”，生死之间何苦还要再隔上个“老病”呢？As the Chinese always say, there is only ‘birth, ageing, illness and death’. Why add the suffering of ‘ageing and illness’ to a life that is going to end in death?
Note: a Buddhist saying/idiom and refers to the four rites of passage in life.
4. 久病成医 jiǔ bìng chéng yī
prolonged illness makes a doctor of a patient
但二舅的腿不是伤了，而是废了，所以久病并不能成医 - But my uncle’s leg wasn’t injured, it was crippled. He was unable to treat it even after a prolonged period.
5. 把一副烂牌打好 bǎ yī fù làn pái dǎ hǎo
play a bad hand really well
都说人生最重要的，不是胡一把好牌，而是打好一把烂牌 - People say that life is not about playing a good hand well, but about playing a really bad hand well.
Note: this is a reference to Mahjong 麻将. hú 胡 which is normally written as 和 (but pronounced hú in this context) means to have a full house.
Consuming the conversation
Useful words
混 hùn
drift along; to live
二舅作为军人家属住进了部队，没想到居然混得风生水起 - My uncle, as a family member of someone in the army, was able to move into the residential compound of the armed forces. You would never think that he would have done so well there.
挣扎 zhēng zhá
struggle through
二舅不是也经历了三年的自我矛盾，才选择不挣扎了，继续活下去吗 - Has my uncle not also gone through 3 years of difficulties before finally deciding to stop the struggle and choosing to live his life?
陨落 yǔn luò
fall
二舅的故事到底是天才的陨落，还是普通乡村男人庄敬自强的一生 - Is my uncle’s story about the fall of a genius, or the indomitable spirit of an average man from the countryside?
豁达 huò dá
open-minded
靠着自己的乐观和豁达笑对人生的66岁老头 - A positive open-minded 66-year-old who can laugh at his own life.
解药 jiě yào
relief
在当下的大环境中，年轻人急需一款精神解药，能够用以对抗沮丧和不安 - Nowadays, young people need something as a spiritual relief against frustration and anxiety.
怜悯 lián mǐn
mercy, taking pity
这可不是上天的不仁，而是怜悯 - This is not fate being heartless, but taking pity on him.
Three-character phrases
仙人跳 xiān rén tiào
honey trap
既不是今日时兴的仙人跳，也不是那个年月的拉帮套 - This is neither a modern-day extortion or a situation of re-marrying because her husband has fallen ill.
Note: extortion similar to a ‘honey trap’ in English. A woman deceives a man with the promise of sex, only for a male accomplice to appear and rob the unsuspecting victim of his money - literally being caught with his trousers down. The phrase first appeared in the Ming Dynasty.
More: 拉帮套 lā bāng tào is described as an old tradition in China, when a man falls ill or is unable to work to look after his family, he and his wife find another man that will take on that responsibility. The informal arrangement is formalised when the husband dies, with the wife and new man often marrying.
老狐狸 lǎo hú li
old fox
还在上小学的宁宁则喊那个女人“老狐狸”，喊自己班里的她的女儿“小狐狸” - Ning Ning who was still at school would call that woman an ‘old fox’. She would call the woman’s daughter, who was in Ning Ning’s class at school, a ‘young fox’.
Idioms
无妄之灾 wú wàng zhī zāi
an undeserved misfortune
我认为二舅的苦难很大程度上是人为的，是无妄之灾 - I think my uncle’s suffering is mostly man-made, an undeserved misfortune.
一瘸一拐 yī qué yī guǎi
hobble, walk unevenly, disabled
“要是在今天，我早被告倒了，得承包你一辈子。”二舅笑着骂他一句，一瘸一拐地又给人干活去了。- The doctor said: ‘If it was today, I would be sued, and had to pay for your entire life.’ My uncle just laughed and hobbled away to his next customer.
庄敬自强 zhuāng jìng zì qiáng
self respect and strength
二舅这把烂牌打得是真好，他在挣扎与困难中表现出来的庄敬自强，令我心生敬意 - My uncle really played his terrible hand extremely well. Through struggle and difficulty, he showed his inner strength, which I have huge respect for.
辛劳一生 xīn láo yī shēng
labour uphill all one’s life
早早走上了打零工、做苦活的辛劳一生 - From an early stage he became a part-time worker, doing hard labour, living a hard life.
红白喜事 hóng bái xǐ shì
wear red and white; weddings and funerals, important family events
她开始作为二舅家的正式一员，出席家族的一切红白喜事 - She officially became part of my uncle’s family, attending important family events.
进退失据 jìn tuì shī jù
equally difficult to go on or retreat; be kept in the air
老实的二舅进退失据，不知所措 - My uncle, who was so innocent, didn’t know what to do or say.
Note: this idiom has a similar meaning to 不知所措 bùzhī suǒ cuò.
无疾而终 wú jí ér zhōng
die without any illness (without a known cause); to fizzle out or disappear
几十年过去了，故人故事无疾而终，到现在什么也没剩下，只剩了一笔烂账 - Decades have gone by and familiar faces and stories have become things of the past. There is nothing left for him other than hardship and suffering.
Note: 一笔烂账 yī bǐ làn zhàng can mean ‘bad debts’ or it can be a metaphor for there being nothing good left.
乏善可陈 fá shàn kě chén
lacklustre, uneventful
就这样又过去了三十年，乏善可陈。是的，普通人的生活就是这样 - And that’s how the next 30 years passed by: uneventful. That’s the life of ordinary people in China.
Phrases
卧龙先生 wò lóng xiān sheng
like Zhu Geliang in Wolong
二舅闭着眼睛横躺在床上，一言不发，像一位断了腿的卧龙先生 - My uncle lay on his bed with his eyes closed, saying nothing. He was like Zhu Geliang with a broken leg.
Note: 卧龙先生 wò lóng xiān sheng is a nickname of 诸葛亮 Zhūgé Liàng, a reference to his lying low in a place of the same name in Nányáng 南阳, when Liu Bei tried to visit him three times, captured in the story of the idiom 三顾茅庐 sān gù máo lú - to call on somebody repeatedly.
高看一眼 gāo kàn yī yǎn
have a higher opinion of
姥姥家这么穷，妹妹出嫁有这么一套家具，婆家也会高看一眼 - My grandmother was so poor, when my uncle’s younger sister was married off with such good furniture, the husband’s family would have been really impressed.
说不清，道不明 shuō bu qīng, dào bù míng
not something that one can explain clearly and make people understand
这是场说不清道不明的爱情故事 - This is a love story that is impossible to explain.
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