How long is sanshe in the idiom tuibi sanshe(退避三舍)?
In ancient times, she was a unit of distance(距离). One she is as 1 as 30 li. One li is 500 meters and 30 li is 15,000 meters. So sanshe is 45 kilometers.
There is a story behind this idiom. During the Spring and Autumn Period(770 BC—476 BC), Prince Chong'er of the Jin State ran away from his home state. He 2 to travel to other states.
Once, he went to the state of Chu. King, Chengwang of Chu saw him as an important guest and 3 him a feast(盛宴). He asked Chong'er, "If you rule state of Jin one day, how would you thank me?" "It seems your state has everything you want. I have nothing that you like," Chong'er said. However, the king 4 asked for something. Finally, Chong'er said, "I would ask my soldiers to retreat(撤退)sanshe if we ever fight. "
Later, Chong'er 5 to his home state of Jin and became its ruler called Wengong. Both of the two 6 wanted to become stronger and get more land. They went to war with each other.
Jin Wengong didn't 7 his promise. He asked his soldiers to retreat sanshe in Chengpu. The Chu soldiers thought that the Jin soldiers were afraid to fight, so they followed them. To their surprise, the Jin soldiers surrounded(包围) them. 8 , Jin won the war. This was the famous Battle of Chengpu. After this war, people used tuibi sanshe to mean retreating to avoid a conflict(冲突).
