When people usually say someone is stupid, they always say so-and-so is "250". Where did this come from?

Chinese people often call fools or people who speak rudely, do things carelessly, act casually, and like to make a fool of themselves as "two hundred and five". According to research, there are roughly the following possible sources:

1. Originating from the story of the Warring States Period

During the Warring States Period, there was a historical figure named Su Qin, who was a strategist. He persuaded the six countries of Han, Wei, Zhao, Qi, Yan, and Chu to unite and form an alliance to deal with the common enemy - Qin. As a result, he was appreciated by the king of the great country and was named prime minister. He was called "the prime minister" in history. "The Prime Minister of the Six Kingdoms".

While Su Qin was actively serving in Qi State, he met an assassin. Su Qin was stabbed in the chest and died that night. When the King of Qi heard the news, he was very angry and immediately ordered the arrest of the murderer. But the assassin has escaped without a trace, where can he catch him? King Qi had an idea and came up with a clever plan to "lead the snake out of the hole". He ordered Su Qin's head to be cut off and his body to be whipped with a whip until his head and face were covered in blood. Then the bloody head was hung at the city gate, and a yellow list was posted, which read: "Su Qin is a big traitor, and he deserves to die. King Qi has always wanted to kill him, but he didn't think of any good way. Fortunately, there is a righteous man who can kill him for the people." The king of Qi issued a decree to award a thousand taels of gold, and invited righteous men to receive the reward."

As soon as this list came out, someone took the bait. Four people came to receive the reward, and they all insisted that Su Qin killed him himself. So the soldiers "invited" them to the King of Qi. When King Qi saw the four of them, he gritted his teeth with hatred. But he still asked seriously: "How do you four divide these one thousand taels of gold?" The four people didn't know that they had fallen into the trap, and they were so happy that they immediately replied: "This is easy, 1000÷4=250, Two hundred and five each."

When King Qi heard that they were still thinking about the reward, he was furious: "Push these four two hundred and behead them!" These four people became scapegoats and were killed. . The real assassin, said to be a killer sent by Qin State, had long since fled back to Qin State. Since then, the saying "two hundred and five" has been left in the folk. People often use it to describe fools, fools and people who are deceived by wealth and lust.

2. Originating from folklore

Once upon a time, there was a scholar who spent all his sleep and food and studied hard in order to obtain fame. However, he never passed the exam and did not even have a son. In his later years, the old scholar finally became disheartened and indifferent to fame and fortune. Instead, he was blessed with a son and a twin daughter. The scholar recalled his life's success and failure and couldn't help but sigh with emotion, so he named his two sons: one was called Cheng Shi and the other was called Ban Shi. From then on, the scholar taught classes behind closed doors at home and lived a happy life. One day, the scholar told his wife: "I am going to the market for a stroll. You can supervise the two sons to write at home. The eldest son will write three hundred, and the younger son will write two hundred." After the scholar came back from the market, he asked the two sons how they were studying at home, and the old wife replied : "I wrote it, but the success is insufficient and the failure is more than enough. Both are two hundred and fifty!"

4. Originating from pushing Pai Gow

Pai Gow is a kind of gambling equipment, among which there are There are two cards, "Erban" (four points) and "Mowu" (six points). These two cards together equal ten points. In the gambling activity of pushing Pai Gow, it is called "dead ten". ". It is the smallest dot in Pai Gow. No one is bigger than it. It cannot "eat" any tiles, so later people used the word "Er Ban Wu" (abbreviation of Er Ban and Mo Wu) to jokingly call everything. People who can't do well and can't be controlled. As time went by, the "two board five" became "two hundred five". In Hong Kong, it is customary to call them "two or five boys".

5. Originated from arcade games

Originated from the popular arcade game "Street Fighter" in the 1990s. , the word "two hundred and five" was also spread at that time. It is a fighting game. When one party defeats the other party with full health, the system will display an English PERFECT. Because the system's pronunciation is not standard (the game is made in Japan and dubbed by Japanese), the pronunciation is very similar to "two hundred and five", so it became popular. . To this day, in fighting arcade games (such as The King of Fighters), PERFECT is still called "Two Hundred and Five", as friends who played arcades in the 1990s know. As for why "two hundred and five" now means fool, it's not the original intention!

In addition, in the fourth point, the 25th cub in Hong Kong means "traitor, betrayal" and has nothing to do with the 250th.

6. Other explanations

According to a middle school Chinese document, ancient people divided silver into taels. Generally, five hundred taels was an integer unit. It was wrapped in paper. At that time, it was wrapped in five hundred taels. Two means "one letter", and two hundred and fifty taels means "half a letter" of silver. Because it is homophonic with "half-crazy", people later also called crazy people "two hundred and five".

Once upon a time there was a fool whose family was in ruins. One day he went to sell a family heirloom, and it was written on the treasure "Sold out for 258 taels." However, when he was selling, someone bargained with him and insisted on only giving 250 taels. He thought 250 would be 250, so he sold 250 taels of gold. , many people laughed at him for asking for 8 taels of gold, and he was a fool. Since then, people have called people who are confused two hundred and five.

In modern times, it is said that some people learn to sing the songs of Xing Wu Bai, but they can't imitate them. Others say he can count at most half a five hundred.

In the Tengzhou dialect of Shandong Province, "half-ripened (pronounced as 'half-floating')" means "two hundred and five". Here, fools or people who speak improperly, do not take things seriously, deal with things casually, and like to make a fool of themselves are called "half-ripened" (pronounced 'half-floating')".

Speaking of "two hundred and five"

"Two hundred and five" is not a very old word. Needless to say, it is not included in "Erya", "Shuowen" and "Kangxi Dictionary", even if "Etymology" "" and "Cihai" are also missing. Only "Modern Chinese Dictionary" contains the entry, but does not indicate the source. It only prompts the sentence "[Fang] half a bottle of vinegar." "Half a bottle of vinegar" comes from the Yuan drama "Sima Xiangru's Inscription on the Bridge" : "Nowadays, ordinary people on the street read a few sentences of books and chew on words, and they are called half-bottles of vinegar." Chapter 64 of "The Story of the Stone" in the Qing Dynasty says: "There is also a class of scholars who are half-bottles of vinegar." What is "half-bottles of vinegar", that is, "A bottle full of dissatisfaction, half a bottle dangling" is a metaphor for someone who knows a little but shows off in front of others. It is also called "half-baked". In fact, "Modern Han" is only half right and makes a "detour." "Two hundred and five" refers to the "number of money" and is more closely related to "half-baked".

Just as "Madaha" originated from Ma Sanli's cross talk "Buying a Monkey", the "root" of the saying "two hundred and five" may also be found in literary and artistic works. In earlier written records, we can see that Chapter 83 of "The Strange Current Situation Witnessed in Twenty Years" by Wu Jianren of the Qing Dynasty (published from 1903 to 1905): "It turns out that he was a talented scholar from the south of the Yangtze River. A fellow student who donated 250 yuan was fooling around outside. "In 1913, the Shanghai Asia Film Company produced the short film "Two Hundred and Five White Xiang Chenghuang Temple" directed by Zhang Shichuan. Ding Chuhe starred in the protagonist "Two Hundred and Five". This farmer who entered Shanghai for the first time, because he didn't understand the rules, was full of stupidity, and kept making farces, he was played vividly and left a deep impression on people. After that, "Two Hundred and Five" spread like wildfire and became popular. everywhere. In 1924, Chen Duxiu mentioned "Two Hundred and Five" in his article "Recovering the Right to Education". In 1949, Shanghai Datong Film Company produced the movie "The Story of Two Hundred and Five", which depicts an upright and honest opera actor who loves to fight against injustice, nicknamed "Two Hundred and Five". After that, "Two Hundred and Five" became even more "famous" and spread almost throughout the country.

In addition, according to the famous dramatist Weng Ouhong, in the early years of Kun Opera there was "Butterfly Dream" which interprets the story of Zhuangzi's transformation. Bangzi was renamed "The Big Split the Coffin" and two soul boy characters "Two Hundred and Five" and "Three Hundred and Three" were added. It was quite a gimmick and beat Kun Opera. The Peking Opera "Butterfly Dream" is basically a translation of Bangzi, and Xiao Cuihua (Yu Lianquan)'s performance was not outstanding. Liu Binkun, the famous Shanghai ugly man, re-created the role of "Two Hundred and Five". He created an original oilcloth gown, waistcoat, and cap with a cool paper pattern. His skills were very profound. After being carried off the stage, he stood on a chair, holding a cigarette pouch in his right hand, and bending his chest with his left hand. , which lasted for a moment and moved continuously. The audience was amazed by the miraculous skill and called him a "paper man". There is a line in the Peking Opera "Butterfly Dream": A miscellaneous child pretends to be a child and says: "Who is this guy? He looks like the boy I bought for 250 yuan. How is he still alive? It doesn't matter, wait until I call him." "Two hundred and five." The boy replied, "Why do you call me two hundred and five? You bought paper, but I am a human being. How can it be the same?"

"Two hundred and five" means two hundred. Fifty cents is a lot of money, which is "half-baked". From the above analysis, it is speculated that the term "two hundred and five" probably originated in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. As for "half-baked", it may have been earlier.

Chu Opera is an ancient local vocal opera, formerly known as Ohhe Opera, Huangxiao Flower Drum Opera, and Xilu Flower Drum Opera.

It was formed by the fusion of Ohhe tune, which was popular in eastern Hubei during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty (1821-1851), and folk songs, Taoist sentiments, bamboo horses, stilts and folk raps in Huangpi and Xiaogan areas. It was renamed Chu Opera in 1926. There is a traditional short play in Chu Opera called "Selling Shoes by a Half-Handed Man", which retells the story of a shoemaker nicknamed "half-baked" who sells shoes on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month to celebrate the New Year. It shows that there was a saying of "half-baked" at that time.