过河拆桥 Cross the River then Destroy the Bridge
Description
Chengyu
过河拆桥 (guò hé chāi qiáo)
Characters
过 guò: Go across
河 hé: River
拆 chāi: Destroy
桥 qiáo: Bridge
Story
The Battle of Changban involved the opposing forces of 刘备 (Liú Bèi) and 曹操 (Cáo Cāo) during the 漢 Han Dynasty in 208 AD (1). During that time, Cao Cao controlled northern China and wanted to unify the country by invading the south. Outnumbered, Liu Bei decided to flee with his forces. Since Liu Bei decided to bring along 100 000 civilians, his evacuation was slow and easily chased down by Cao Cao’s 5 000 cavalry force.
By the time Liu Bei’s forces have crossed Changban Bridge, Cao Cao’s cavalry has caught up. Commanding Liu Bei’s rearguard, 张飞 (Zhāng Fēi) stayed behind with 20 cavalry to block the bridge and buy time. His battle cry “I am Zhang Fei! Come and fight me to death!” was so frightening that it paralyzed Cao Cao’s army for a moment. Zhang Fei then took the opportunity to destroy the bridge, which allowed Liu Bei’s forces to escape. Fearing an ambush ahead, Cao Cao ordered his army to retreat.
Lesson
The story behind 过河拆桥 (guò hé chāi qiáo) is one of kind-heartedness as shown by Liu Bei’s refusal to abandon the peasants and valor as displayed by Zhang Fei on the bridge. However, 过河拆桥 (guò hé chāi qiáo) has morphed into meaning to abandon one’s benefactor after achieving one’s objective. That is, “to stab someone in the back”.
One famous example was the death of Julius Caesar of ancient Rome. The senate saw him as tyrannical and wanted to dispose him. As a result, Caesar was stabbed to death by the senators and his close friend, Marcus Brutus. Caesar uttered his last words to Brutus – “You too my child?” 过河拆桥 (guò hé chāi qiáo) indeed.
Oxytocin is a hormone and neurotransmitter involved in sexual reproduction, social bonding, and social memory (2). On a deeper level, oxytocin is involved in trust and betrayal. Studies have shown that the mere intranasal administration of oxytocin can increase trust. For example, Baumgartner et al. (2008) found that participants with oxytocin administered maintained the same level of trust even after their trust had been breached several times. Conversely, the placebo group showed a decrease in their trust. Trust can be described as a feeling of safety when in the presence of someone. Oxytocin increases trust by deactivating fear processing brain regions such as the amygdala and midbrain (3). Consequently, the person feels pleasant and safe.Relating to 过河拆桥 (guò hé chāi qiáo), the culprit behind a betrayal may be traced back to oxytocin – the neurotransmitter that elicited the trust in the first place.
- De Crespigny, Rafe. (2004). Generals of the South: The foundation and early history of the Three Kingdoms state of Wu (internet ed.). Canberra: Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University.
- Yang, H., Wang, L., Han, L., & Wang, S.C. (2013). Nonsocial Functions of Hypothalamic Oxytocin. ISRN neuroscience.
- Baumgartner, T., Heinrichs, M.L., Vonlanthen, A., Fischbacher, U., & Fehr, E. (2008). Oxytocin Shapes the Neural Circuitry of Trust and Trust Adaptation in Humans. Neuron, 58, 639-650.
Image credit:
- Yu Ninjie, CC BY-SA 3.0, Han Dynasty empire 87 BC, 6 November 2004, retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Han_map.jpg
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