班馬

班馬

1. (literary) stray horse

   • 邢伯告中行伯曰：「有班馬之聲，齊師其遁。」
     邢伯告中行伯曰：「有班马之声，齐师其遁。」

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Xíng bó gào Zhōngháng bó yuē: “Yǒu bānmǎ zhī shēng, Qí shī qí dùn.”

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 失羣班馬，迷輪亂轍。
     失群班马，迷轮乱辙。

     From: 6th century, 庾信 (Yu Xin), 哀江南賦

     Shīqún bānmǎ, mí lún luàn zhé.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 揮手自茲去，蕭蕭班馬鳴。
     挥手自兹去，萧萧班马鸣。

     From: 8th century, Li Bai, 送友人

     Huīshǒu zì zī qù, xiāoxiāo bānmǎ míng.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 背櫪嘶班馬，分洲叫斷鴻。
     背枥嘶班马，分洲叫断鸿。

     From: c. 8th century, 李嶠 (Li Jiao), 送光祿劉主簿之洛

     Bèi lì sī bānmǎ, fēn zhōu jiào duànhóng.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

班馬

1. (literary) Ban Gu and Sima Qian (two great historians, used to be reckoned as greatest of all time)

   • 譬如罷，作文論秦朝事，寫一句“秦始皇乃始燒書”，是不算好文章的，必須翻譯一下，使牠不容易一目了然纔好。 改成“政俶燔典”，那就簡直有了班馬氣，雖然跟着也令人不大看得懂。
     譬如罢，作文论秦朝事，写一句“秦始皇乃始烧书”，是不算好文章的，必须翻译一下，使它不容易一目了然才好。 改成“政俶燔典”，那就简直有了班马气，虽然跟着也令人不大看得懂。

     From: 1933 November 10, 魯迅 (Lu Xun), 《作文秘訣》 (The Key to Doing a Composition)

     Pìrú ba, zuòwén lùn Qíncháo shì, xiě yījù “Qínshǐhuáng nǎi shǐ shāo shū”, shì bùsuàn hǎo wénzhāng de, bìxū fānyì yīxià, shǐ tā bùróngyì yīmùliǎorán cái hǎo. gǎichéng “Zhèng chù fán diǎn”, nà jiù jiǎnzhí yǒule Bān-Mǎ qì, suīrán gēnzhe yě lìngrén bùdà kàndedǒng.

     For instance, when writing about the Qin dynasty, a straightforward sentence like ‘First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty began to burn books’ would be considered poor style. One must instead render it in archaic language to obscure immediate comprehension. By changing it to 政俶燔典 (“‘Zheng chu fan dian ’”), the phrasing suddenly carries the classical gravitas of historians like Ban Gu or Sima Qian—though admittedly, this also renders it nearly incomprehensible to modern readers.

班⫽馬 (verb-object)

1. (Cantonese, slang) to gather subordinates