The south turns to the north, the Chinese idiom is nán yuán běi zhé in pinyin. I want to go south but the car goes north. Metaphorical action conflicts with purpose. From “Warring States Policy·Wei Ce IV”.
Engraving the boat for the sword means to engrave a mark on the boat gang where the sword fell into the water. After the boat stops, go into the water from the place where the mark is engraved. Metaphor does not look at things progressively as things change, but still looks at things with the old and unchanging eyes. From “Lu Shichunqiu·Chajin”.
Practice makes perfect, a Chinese idiom, pinyin is shú néng shēng qiǎo, which means that when you are proficient, you can produce clever ways, good ways. From “Jing Hua Yuan”.
If we lose our horses, we know that we are not blessed, and we will lose our horses, and we are not blessed. It is an analogy that although you suffer a loss for a while, you can get benefits because of it. It also means that bad things can turn into good things under certain conditions, and vice versa. To describe a person’s mentality, we must be optimistic. Everything has two sides. The bad side may be transformed into the good side.
“The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain” is a fable essay in “Liezi”. The article narrates the story of Foolish Father, who is not afraid of hardships, perseveres, and digs the mountain, and finally moved the mountain away.