Until death do us part
Qu Yuan (Qu1 Yuan3) (Ancient state of Chu)
He was the number one advisor of the Kingdom of Chu.
He dedicated his whole life to assisting the king to build the State of Chu stronger.
dedicate (verb) – devote time or effort to a particular task or purpose.
dedication (noun) – the quality of being dedicated or committed to a task or purpose.
(one of the seven warring states: Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Qin)
He advised the King to ally with the State of Qi to fight against the most powerful State of Qin. However, he was slandered by jealous officials and accused of treason, and the King dismissed and exiled him.
slander [诋毁 di2 hui3] (v) – make false and damaging statements about (someone)
The king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance and even accused of treason
During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of enduring poems showing his love and passion for his country, some of which are still very famous in China.
In 278 BC, the Qin State conquered the capital of Chu. On hearing of the defeat, on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, Qu Yuan in great despair committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River (a branch of Yangtze River) as a gesture of dying along with his motherland.
The rest is legend… When they heard of Qu Yuan’s death, the local people were very sad, and rowed out on the river to search for his body, but were unable to find him. To preserve his body, the locals paddled their boats up and down the river, hitting the water with their paddles and beating drums to scare evil spirits away. They threw lumps of rice into the river to feed the fish, so that they would not eat Qu Yuan’s body.
The sentence itself is a subordinate clauses (also known as dependent clause).
Until – subordinate conjunction
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death (subject) do (transitive verb) us (direct object) part (noun, object complement)
The phrase itself means lifelong commitment or dedication.
It is used usually between romantic partners in the Middle Ages. Christians believe that marriage is considered the ideal purpose of God, and that at the heart of God’s design for marriage is companionship and intimacy.
commit (verb) – pledge or bind (a person or an organization) to a certain course/situation.
commitment (noun) – to commit
Difference between commit and dedicate?
Being dedicated to something implies a certain level of passion and enthusiasm (热情 re qing), while being committed implies a sense of duty (责任感） and responsibility.
stoic (adj) 坚忍的 jian ren de – not showing or not feeling any emotion
But why? Fruit of our loins; Offspring
matrimony (婚姻 hun ying) – the state or ceremony of being married; marriage
holy – divine 神圣的 (shen sheng de)
Holy Matrimony (神圣的婚姻) – marriage blessed by divine being.
In the old Christian times when “until death do us part” is used, divorce isn’t approved or recognized.
Death is the only option for getting out of the marital contract.
But not everyone takes it literally.
Most people like the passionate, romantic feeling it promotes because it shows their undying love for their partner.
Marriage was binding women to men, and guaranteeing that his children were his biological heirs.
If wives fail to produce offsprings, the husband would give the wife back and marry someone else.
Business – produce heirs to pass down property and money
People create stronger families and ties by marriage. It has never been about love.
Stronger families protect resources, money, and create power.
Normally, a lot of people want to pass down their hard work and accomplishments. They do this by passing their money, property, and land onto their offspring.
As role models for successful child-raising
The couple is the pillar of a family.
pillar (n) – a tall vertical structure of stone, wood, or metal, used as a support for a building, or as an ornament or monument.
They split tasks – wife keeps home, husband works to own home.
They are the temple in which their offspring can safely grow and flourish.
For most inmates and criminals, there is a direct correlation between child neglect/abuse and crime.
“Get better grades” do not work
When a couple stays together, work through their problems, and positively interact with their kids, it has been shown that the kids become exponentially better. They learn from role models much much better than said parent telling them over and over to “get better grades”.
Hold death close, for it tells us what’s important and what’s not
Let’s say you die in three days? What will you do in those three days?
If you were to die, who would you say goodbye to? Who would you thank? Who would you see?
Waking up tomorrow – The million dollar question
1) If I gave you a million dollars how would you feel? How would you feel this week? this month? this year?
2) If i gave the million dollars but you can’t wake up tomorrow?
People will say no way!! –> We value our life more than the million dollars
3) Therefore, if we value our life more than the money, and we’re so hyped up about the money, then why aren’t we hyped up when we wake up everyday?