The Feast at the Hong Gate

Unlike many (but not all, fortunately) English proverbs and idioms, whose origins and stories have been lost in time, nearly all Chinese proverbs and idioms retain their flavour and historical origins. 鸿门宴 The feast at the Hong Gate, describes a situation where one is invited to something good (a meeting, a banquet or a party) but the intention behind the invitation is to do the person in.

It all started when 刘邦 Liu Bang, allied with 项羽 Xiang Yu, both attacked Qin in its final hours. Xiang Yu has the bigger army (a figure of 300,000 to 400,000 were quoted – Liu Bang has about 100,000) but engaged the stronger Qin troops. Liu Bang, on the other hand, arrived at 襄阳 Xiangyang the capital of Qin first, and persuaded the young emperor to surrender and abdicate.

Xiang Yu was so angry that he wanted to kill Liu Bang and hence invited him to a feast at the Hong Gate. Liu Bang had no choice – if he failed to turn up, Xiang Yu will attack. A sword dance was displayed during the banquet, the ultimate aim to kill Liu Bang during the display, and it was the bravery of Liu Bang’s general (who charged into the banquet in full armour) that saved the day.

Hence, whenever a Chinese friend comes before me and says he is being invited to a 鸿门宴, I know actually what his boss is trying to do. I sure am glad I am an overseas Chinese!

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