渔翁得利 (Yúwēngdélì) Tencent (QQ) vs. 360: The Fisherman benefits.
渔 (yú)：v. to catch fish
渔翁 (yúwēng)：n. fisherman
利 (lì)：n. profit
之 (zhī)：a structural auxiliary word, which means “of…,” more often used in ancient Chinese text
In early November, two of China’s most successful Internet companies took their long standing feud with each other to public. One party is Tencent (QQ), and the other is 360. Due to their public feud, both, in one day experienced a rapid loss of users. However, on that same day, MSN saw great increases in its users, reaching second on the Baidu seven-day spotlight list (百度七日关注排行榜), which ranks everything popular in China each week. The drama is being referred to as “360 battles with QQ, while MSN 坐收渔翁之利 (zuòshōu yúwēng zhīlì)” which basically means MSN is the victor in the war between 360 and QQ.
The idiom “坐收渔翁之利 (Zuòshōu yúwēng zhīlì)” comes from an ancient Chinese story, as follows:
Yìzhī bàng zài shātān shàng shài tàiyang,
一只 蚌 在 沙滩 上 晒 太阳，
yìzhī yù fēilái zhuó tāde ròu, bàng mǎshàng héshàng,
一只 鹬 飞来 啄 它的 肉， 蚌 马上 合上，
jiāzhù le yù de zuǐ.
夹住 了鹬 的 嘴。
A clam was on the beach basking in the sun when a snipe came to eat it. The clam quickly closed his shell latching onto the snipe’s beak.
Yù shuō: “Jīntiān bú xiàyǔ, míngtiān bú xiàyǔ, jiù huì gānsǐ nǐ.”
鹬 说： “今天 不 下雨，明天 不 下雨，就 会 干死 你。”
The snipe said, “It won’t rain today and it won’t rain tomorrow, then you will dry out and die.”
Bàng yě duì yù shuō: “Jīntiān nǐ de zuǐ chū búqù,
蚌 也 对 鹬 说： “今天 你 的 嘴 出 不去，
míngtiān nǐ de zuǐ chū búqù, jiù huì è sǐ nǐ.”
明天 你 的 嘴 出 不去，就 会饿死你。”
The clam replied to the snipe, “Your beak won’t be unlatched today and it won’t be unlatched tomorrow, then you will starve to death.”
Yù hé bàng dōu bùkěn hùxiāng fàngqì,
鹬 和 蚌 都 不肯 互相 放弃，
yúfū jiù bǎ tāmen liǎng yíkuài zhuōzǒu le.
渔夫 就 把 它们 俩 一块 捉走 了。
Neither the snipe nor the clam would give up. In the end, they were both caught by a fisherman and taken away.
渔 (yú)：v. to catch fish
“渔,” a verb, is different from its homonym—another Chinese character “鱼,” a noun, which means fish.
Shòu rén yǐ yú zhǐ jiù yìshí zhī jí,
授 人 以鱼 只 救 一时 之急，
shòu rén yǐ yú zé jiě yìshēng zhī xū.
授 人 以渔 则 解 一生 之需。
Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime.
渔翁 (yúwēng)：n. fisherman
Xiǎomíng de yéye shì gè yúwēng.
小明 的 爷爷 是 个 渔翁。
Xiao Ming’s grandpa is a fisherman.
利 (lì)：n. profit
It’s usually used in the phrases “利润” and “利益.”
Zhèxiàng gōngchéng lìrùn hěndà.
这项 工程 利润 很大。
The gains for this project are quite substantial.
之 (zhī)：a structural auxiliary word, which means of…, more often used in ancient Chinese
It has the same meaning as “的” in modern usage of the Mandarin language.
Zhècì shìgù wēihài zhīdà, nǐ wúfǎ gūjì.
这次 事故 危害 之大，你 无法估计。
The damage is so great that you won’t be able to estimate it.
Read more stories in Mandarin online:
Online Mandarin story: 老马识途An Old Horse Knows the Way
Online Mandarin story: 矛和盾的故事 The Story of Spear and Shield
Online Mandarin story: 爱屋及乌 Love Me, Love My Dog
Chinese Idiom
General Chinese (Beginner Level)
General Chinese (Intermediate Level)