爱华网In the Northern and Southern Dynasties when the State of Chen (A.D. 557-589) was facing its demise(死亡，终止) , Xu Deyan, husband of the princess, broke a bronze mirror into halves. Each of them kept a half as tokens(代币，符号) in case they were separated. Soon afterwards, they did lose touch with each other, but the two halves of the mirror enabled them to be reunited.
This idiom is used to refer to the reunion of a couple after they lose touch or break up.
“镜子”是中国传统文学中是一个广泛使用的文学意象。文学家把满月比作镜子，也用镜子来形容一个人的品德无暇疵，还有的时候说某某人的心里明镜似的，形容他对事情的明晰洞察。成语“破镜重圆”是借镜子比喻离散夫妻重新团聚的。
故事发生在公元九世纪，当时中国北方是强盛的隋政权，南方则并存着好几个小国家，国都在建康(今南京)的陈国就是其中的一个。隋政权对南方的小国家虎视耽耽，随时准备统一整个中国。
徐德言是陈国的皇帝陈叔宝的侍从官，他娶了皇帝的妹妹乐昌公主为妻，两人非常恩爱。但当时陈国朝政腐败，徐德言预料到，总有一天国家会遭受灭亡之祸，因此非常忧虑。
一天，他愁容满面地对妻子说：“天下大乱的事可能不久就会发生，到时我要保护皇帝，我们夫妻将被迫拆散。但只要我们活着，总会有再次见面的机会。我们应该先留下一件东西，作为将来重见的凭证。”
乐昌公主同意丈夫的看法和建议。于是徐德言取来一面圆形的铜镜，把它一破为二，一半自己留下，一半交给妻子，告诉她好好保存，并对她说：“如果离散后，就在每年正月十五日那天，托人将这半面镜子送到市场上去叫卖。只要我还活着，我一定前去探听，以我的半面镜子为凭，与你团聚。”
不久，已经统一中国北方的隋文帝杨坚，果然发兵攻打陈国的都城建康，小小的陈国被消灭，陈国国王被杀，徐德言被迫逃亡。隋文帝奖赏攻打陈国有功的人，被俘获的乐昌公主则被赏给了大臣杨素为妾。
流亡的徐德言打听到妻子已到了隋的京都大兴(今陕西西安)，便长途跋涉赶到那里，打听妻子的具体下落。每当夜深人静，他总是取出半面镜子，怀念与妻子在一起的美好时光。而他的妻子乐昌公主，虽然在杨素的官府中过着非常奢侈的生活，但内心一直惦记着丈夫，也经常抚摸半面镜子，回忆往事。
正月十五日终于来到了。徐德言赶到热闹的市场，看见一个老人以高价出卖半面铜镜，自然没有人愿意出高价买半面镜子，所以老人就来回在市场上走动。徐德言假装要买老人的镜子，细细察看，果然是妻子的那半块。原来他是杨府的仆人，受乐昌公主委托来卖镜寻夫的。于是徐德言写了一首诗，交给仆人带回。诗写道：“镜与人俱去，镜归人未归。无复嫦娥影，空留明月辉。”意思是镜子与人都去了，但如今镜子归来而人却没有归来。正好比月中没有嫦娥的身影，只空留明月的光辉。
乐昌公主见到丈夫保存的半面铜镜和诗后，终日哭泣，茶饭不思。杨素知道实情后，受到感动，把徐德言叫来，让他把乐昌公主带回自己的故乡去，还赐给了他许多东西。夫妻终于重新团聚。
后世文学中用“破镜重圆”指离散夫妻的团聚，用“破镜难圆”表示因为客观的原因夫妻被迫分离。
成语故事中英文 草木皆兵During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Fu Jian, king of the State of Qin, controlled northern China. In the year 383, Fu Jian led 900,000 infantry(步兵) and cavalry(骑兵) troops to assault the State of Jin which was south of the Yangtze River. Xie Shi and Xie Xuan, senior generals of the Jin army, led 80,000 troops to offer resistance. Knowing that the Jin army was short of men, Fu Jian wanted to seize this opportunity of being much more numerous in armed forces to stage a quick attack.
Unexpectedly, the van(先锋) of Fu Jian's army of 250,000 troops was defeated in the Shouchun area by an ingenious(机灵的，精致的) military move of the Jin army and suffered heavy losses. The senior general of the van of Fu Jian's army was killed, and there were heavy casualties of more than 10,000 soldiers. Fu Jian's army was dispirited and its morale was shaken. Many soldiers were in such a great panic that they waited for opportunities to run away. Standing on the city wall of the Shouchun City, Fu Jian and his brother Fu Rong saw that the ranks of the Jin army were in good order and that the morale of the Jin army was high. Turning to his brother, Fu Jian said, "What a powerful enemy this is! Why did people say that the Jin army was short of men?" He deeply regretted that he had taken the enemy too lightly.
Overshadowed by the disastrous defeat, Fu Jian ordered his troops to be deployed in battle formation on the north side of the Feishui River, in an attempt to regain the initiative by relying on the superior geographical conditions. Then Xie Shi and Xie Xuan, the senior generals of the Jin army, suggested that Fu Jian's army retreat a little bit, leaving some space, so that the Jin army could cross the river to conduct ooperations. Fu Jian thought that his chance had come, believing that the senior generals of the Jin army did not have the elementary knowledge of warfare. It was his plan to stage a sudden attack while the troops of the Jin army was busy crossing the river, and he was sure that his plan would word. So he willingly accepted the suggestion of the Jin army.
Unexpectedly, the moment the order to retreat was given, Fu Jian's troops were utterly routed and could by no means(决不) be controlled. Taking advantage of this favorable situation, the Jin army crossed the river, pursuing and attacking the enemy. The trooops of Fu Jian's army threw away everything in headlong flight, and the field was littered with the corpses of the soldiers of Fu Jian's army. Fu Rong was killed in the tangled(紊乱的) fighting, and Fu Jian was hit by an arrow and ran away. The Jin army won a brilliant victory by defeating a big army with its limited armed forces.
This story comes from "The Life of Fu Jian" in the volume "Records" of The History of the Jin Dynasty. The set phrase "every bush and tree looks like an enemy" is subsequently used to refer to a state of extreme nervousness.
东晋时代，秦王苻坚控制了北部中国。公元383年，苻坚率领步兵、骑兵9O万，攻打江南的晋朝。晋军大将谢石、谢玄领兵8万前去抵抗。苻坚得知晋军兵力不足，就想以多胜少，抓住机会，迅速出击。
谁料，苻坚的先锋部队25万在寿春—带被晋军出奇击败，损失惨重，大将被杀，士兵死伤万余。秦军的锐气大挫，军心动摇，士兵惊恐万状，纷纷逃跑。此时，苻坚在寿春城上望见晋军队伍严整，士气高昂，再北望八公山，只见山上—草—木都像晋军的士兵—样。苻坚回过头对弟弟说：“这是多么强大的敌人啊!怎么能说晋军兵力不足呢?”他后悔自己过于轻敌了。
出师不利给苻坚心头蒙上了不祥的阴影，他令部队靠淝水北岸布阵，企图凭借地理优势扭转战局。这时晋军将领谢玄提出要求，要秦军稍往后退，让出—点地方，以便渡河作战。苻坚暗笑晋军将领不懂作战常识，想利用晋军忙于渡河难于作战之机，给它来个突然袭击，于是欣然接受了晋军的请求。
谁知，后退的军令—下，秦军如潮水—般溃不成军，而晋军则趁势渡河追击，把秦军杀得丢盔弃甲，尸横遍地。苻坚中箭而逃。
草木皆兵的故事出自“晋书苻坚载记”。成语“草木皆兵”，形容神经过敏、疑神疑鬼的惊恐心理。
成语故事中英文 滥竽充数During the Warring States Period (475-221BC), the King of the State of Qi was very fond of listening to yu ensembles. He often got together 300 yu players to form a grand music. The king treated his musician very well. A man named Nanguo heard about that and he managed to become a member of the band, even though he wan not good at playing the instrument at all. Whenever the band played for the king, Nanguo just stood in the line and pretended to play. Nobody realized he was making no sound at all. As a result, he enjoyed his treatment just as the other musician did. When the king died, his son became the new ruler who also liked the music played on the yu. However, he preferred solos so that he ordered the musicians to play the yu one by one. Therefore, Nanguo had to run out of the palace.
战国时，齐宣王喜欢听竽，通常是三百人的大合奏。因为他给予乐师非常优厚的待遇，所以一个叫南郭的人尽管并不擅长吹竽，也设法混进乐队。当乐队演奏时，他就站在队伍里假装也在吹。没有人注意到其实他连一点声音也没吹出来，所以南郭也享受到和其他乐师一样的待遇。宣王死后，他的儿子继承了王位。他也喜欢听竽，可是他喜欢听独奏，让乐师一个个吹给他听，于是南郭不得不逃跑了。
the idiom "Be there just to make up the number" is used to mock someone who passes for a specialist. You can also hear people saying it about themselves to show their modesty.
"滥竽充数"这个成语用来嘲笑那些没有真正才干，混在行家里的人。 人们有时也用"滥竽充数"来表示自谦。
