‘一板打死江西王’

‘一板打死江西王’ is a Teochew proverb,literally means “Kill the King of Jiangxi with one stick”.Nowadays, it is often used to describe an incident or a sentence that makes things go to extremes.

‘一板’ means one stick.’打死’ means kill.’江西王’ means ‘Kill the King of Jiangxi’.Jiangxi is a province in China.

To practice speaking this sentence in Teochew dialect,follow the audio below:

There are often some interesting stories behind Teochew idioms. This story happened in the Ming Dynasty.

The Arrogant King of Jiangxi

The legend goes that at that time, the King of Jiangxi relied on his status as a royal relative to commit crimes and caused great public outrage.

The emperor appointed Xiao Duanmeng, a native of Chaoyang (a county in Teochew) who had just joined the Imperial Academy, as the inspector of Jiangxi to investigate and prosecute the King of Jiangxi.

A clever plan

Xiao Duanmeng went to Jiangxi and visited incognito. After obtaining all the evidence of the King of Jiangxi’s crimes, he devised a plan:

Tell the King of Jiangxi that the Queen Mother had sent him some treasures and asked him to come to the mansion to check them.

The King of Jiangxi did not know it was a plan and came to the mansion with a few confidants.

When the King of Jiangxi came to Xiao’s mansion, Xiao Duanmeng had already hinted to those who were wronged: He said that the King of Jiangxi would surrender on a certain day and time, and asked all the wronged people to come and sue.

The self-righteous King of Jiangxi

The King of Jiangxi did not take Xiao Duanmeng seriously. When Xiao Duanmeng asked whether there were such people’s grievances, the King of Jiangxi admitted it nonchalantly.

Xiao Duanmeng took advantage of the situation and said to the King of Jiangxi: “The people’s grievances are too great. If you don’t sign, it may cause public anger. Please sign, King of Jiangxi.” The King of Jiangxi wrote a confession and signed.

At this time, the people who had been grudged for a long time had already crowded into the government office.

The King of Jiangxi “willing to be punished”

Xiao Duanmeng said to the King of Jiangxi again: “If I don’t pretend to punish you, it may be difficult to quell the public anger. Please bear with me, Your Majesty.” After saying that, he quietly pointed to the sticks next to him.

The King of Jiangxi saw that they were all made of paper. He thought to himself that he was not prepared today and did not bring many confidants. Had no choice but to agree to be punished.

Xiao Duanmeng gave an order: “Beat the King of Jiangxi, who has committed many evils and deserves death.” His men raised their sticks and hit him hard.

The King of Jiangxi’s testicles were smashed by the stick and died on the spot. It turned out that there was an iron stick inside these paper sticks. The King of Jiangxi was delicate and pampered, so how could he afford to be punished.