There are always fish. willing to be caught by angler Jiang Taigong

姜太公钓鱼，愿者上钩

Jjang Taigong is a popular name for Jiang Ziya，statesman and strate-gist. As an adviser¹ of King Wen of the Zhou State in ancient China .he at the age of 80，helped the young King Wu overthrow² the Shang Dynasty and es-tablish the Zhou Dynasty.

姜太公字子牙，是中国古代的一位影响久远的杰出的韬略家、军事家和政治家。他在九十高龄，辅佐文王，兴邦立国，帮助年轻的周武王灭掉商朝，建立起周朝。

Jiang Ziya lived near the Weishui River about 3000 years ago. The area was the feudal³ estate⁴ of Count Ji Chang. Jiang Ziya knew Ji Chang was very ambitious so he hoped to get Ji's attention.

大约3千多年前，姜子牙居住在渭水北岸的确溪，属于西伯姬昌的封建领地。姜子牙听说西伯姬昌尊贤纳士，年逾七旬的他便千里迢迢投奔西歧。

He often went fishing at the Weishui River, but he would fish in an unusual way. He hung a straight fishhook，without bait，three feet above the water. He often said to himself,“Fish，if you don't want to live any more，come and swallow the hook yourself.”

此后，他每日垂钓于渭水之上，等待圣明君主的到来。姜子牙的钓法奇特，短干长线，线系直钩，不用诱饵之食，钓杆也不垂到水里，离水面有三尺高，并且一边钓鱼一边自言自语，“不想活的鱼儿呀，你们愿意的话，就自己上钩吧。”

Soon his strange way of fishing was reported to Ji Chang. Ji sent a soldier to fetch him. Jiang saw the soldier coming，but ignored him. Jiang just went on with his fishing，and was saying to himself，“Fishing，fishing，no fish has been hooked. A shrimp⁵ is up to mischief⁶.”The soldier reported this back to Ji Chang，who became more interested in Jiang.

太公奇特的钓鱼方法，终于传到了姬昌那里。姬昌知道后，派一名士兵去叫他来。但太公并不理睬这个士兵，只顾自己钓鱼，并自言自语道:“钓啊，钓啊，鱼儿不上钩，虾儿来胡闹!”

Ji sent an official to invite Jiang this time. But Jiang again ignored the invita-Lion. He just carried on fishing，and was saying，“Fishing，fishing，the big fish has not been hooked. A small one is up to mischief.”

姬昌听了士兵的票报后，改派一名官员去请太公来。可是太公依然不答理，边钓边说:“钓啊，钓啊，大鱼不上钩，小鱼别胡闹!”

Then Ji Chang realized Jiang may be a great talent so he went to invite Jiang himself and brought many generous gifts with him. Jiang saw his sincere desire so decided⁷ to work for him.

姬昌这才意识到，这个钓者必是位贤才，要亲自去请他才对。于是他带着厚礼，前往播溪去聘请太公。太公见他诚心诚意来聘请自己，便答应为他效力。

Jiang helped Ji Chang and his son turn over the Shang Dynasty and establish the Zhou Dynasty. Jiang was given the title of Taigong so people called him Jiang Taigong.

后来，姜尚辅佐文王，兴邦立国，还帮助文王的儿子武王姬发，灭掉了商朝，建立了周朝。

Today，people use this old idiom to describe someone who willingly falls in a trap or does something regardless of the result. For example，if someone sells something at a price of 10 times its real value，and he does not care if it can be sold，his situation could be described with this idiom.

成语“姜太公钓鱼，愿者上钩”比喻心甘情愿地上别人的圈套或是做事不计后果。