Chinese Language Blog

It’s been a while since our last post about Chinese idioms (成语 – chéng yǔ). In Chinese, the word for idiom literally means “to become a part of the language.” All idioms are composed of four characters, and most come from ancient literature. As such, the meaning of the idiom itself is usually more than the four characters on their own can describe. The overall meaning is linked to the story or myth from which it came. They can be difficult to understand, as they do not follow the usual grammatical structure and syntax of the modern Chinese spoken language. To catch you up on what we’ve covered already, here are the links to previous posts:

Part One – 班门弄斧 － bān mén nòng fǔ – “Wield the axe before Master Carpenter Luban”; 沉鱼落雁 – chén yú luò yàn – “Causing the fish to sink deep in water and the geese to fall to the ground”; 呆若木鸡 – dāi ruò mù jī – “Dumb as a wooden rooster”

Part Two – 半面之交 – bàn miàn zhī jiāo – “A nodding acquantaince”; 大公无私 – dà gōng wú sī – “Be impartial and unselfish”; 孤注一掷 – gū zhù yī zhì – “To concentrate one’s strength and resources on one thing”

Part Three – 痴人说梦 – chī rén shuō mèng – “A fool tells about his dreams”; 道听途说 – dào tīng tú shuō – “Roadside gossip”; 囫囵吞枣 – hú lún tūn zǎo – “Swallow the dates whole”

Now that you’re all caught up, let’s learn three new Chinese idioms!

半途而废 – bàn tú ér fèi – “Give up halfway”

Don't give up halfway.

According to this story, there was a man named Yue Yang Zi (乐羊子) who lived during the Warring States Period (战国时期 – zhàn guó shí qī). Yue left home and his wife to pursue his studies, but returned after just about a year. Of course, his wife was shocked to see him home so soon, so she asked him if he had finished his studies more quickly than he had anticipated. He replied, “I’ve been away so long, I was just homesick” (出门时间长了想家 – chū mén shí jiān cháng le xiǎng jiā). His wife, who had been weaving, proceeded to take a pair of scissors and cut the cloth she had been working on. “What’s the difference between me wasting time on this cloth and you wasting time on your studies?” she asked her husband. Yue felt ashamed about giving up, and he felt moved by his wife, so he headed back out to continue his education. Seven years later, he returned as an official.

This idiom is used in a derogatory sense for someone who has given up, but it is also used to motivate people to continue to work hard.

HERE is a good video of this idiom from the Chinese website YouKu.

家喻户晓 – jiā yù hù xiǎo – “well known; understood by everyone”

The history of this idiom comes from a story about a woman named Liang. One day, there was a fire inside of her house while she was out. When she returned home, she noticed the house up in flames, and realized that her nephew and her own child were trapped in the house. She bravely ran into the burning house, attempting to save her brother’s child first. However, the smoke blocked her vision, and when she got outside it became clear that she had rescued her own child first. Afraid of being criticized for being selfish, she rushed back into the fire to save her nephew. Sadly, the fire was too strong, and Liang burned to death. Of course, everyone in the village knew about this tragedy.

Well-known McDonald's Uncle.

As such, this idiom is used today to describe something that is known by everyone. For example, when you punch it into the popular Chinese search engine Baidu.com, one of the pictures you get is of Ronald McDonald, or the “well-known McDonald’s uncle” (家喻户晓的麦当劳叔叔 -jiā yù hù xiǎo de mài dāng láo shū shu).

HERE’S another YouKu video showing the story of this idiom.

破釜沉舟 – pò fǔ chén zhōu – “break the woks and sink the boats”

Smash those woks and boats!

This story dates back to the Qin Dynasty (秦朝 – Qín cháo) (221-206 BC) and the Battle of Julu (巨鹿之戰 – jù lù zhī zhàn). Leading the Chu (楚) rebel forces was a man named Xiang Yu (项羽 – Xiàng Yǔ). After crossing the Zhang River (漳河 – zhāng hé ) into enemy territory, he ordered his troops to sink all of the boats and destroy all of the woks. He provided his soldiers rations for three-days, and they headed out to battle. Knowing that victory was the only way for them to survive, his troops fought hard for many days and eventually won the battle.

This idiom is used to describe one’s undying resolve to achieve a goal. It’s similar in English to saying “cross the Rubicon” or “the point of no return.”

A clip from a Chinese movie depicting the story of this famous idiom.

Idioms or 成语  (chéng yǔ) are very prevalent in Chinese writing and even in common day sayings. Much like idiomatic expressions used in English, the Chinese equivalents are an amalgam of history, cultural influences and scholarly debate, imparted upon Mandarin and Cantonese over thousands of years. Further, because Chinese and English are the two largest vocabulary-based languages in the world, the range of idiomatic phrases and proverbs is especially vast and deep or 深刻 (shēn kè).

In ancient China, a scholar’s merits were not simply based upon what the meaning of his prose, but also based upon how he would convey it. Poetry and pictographic expressions which highlighted an artistic nature of the literature was also required for a scholar to gain recognition. As a result, these four character idiomatic expressions (which appeared balanced in written symmetry) entered vernacular language 白话，and has been spoken since (due to yet again the balance of syllables arising from a four character phrase).

Most newcomers or intermediate learners of Chinese often have trouble remembering and learning Chinese idioms because of the inherent structure of Chinese idioms. While you may understand characters or words that make up an idiom, non-natives often have trouble making sense of these truncated expressions.

The difficulty in learning and memorizing these phrases arises from the disconnect between idiomatic expressions and basic Chinese language structures. Often times, four character idioms are a collection of partial verb-object phrases that have been whittled down to one basic character and combined with three other characters following suit. Not following? Let me explain it this way:

Take the idiom “practice makes perfect” or 熟能生巧 shúnéngshēngqiǎo. 熟能 is not a normal verb-object word in Chinese, but both 熟 and 能 are partial verb-object phrases from larger words 熟悉 (to be familiar with) and 能力 (ability to do). However, taking their broader meaning together (to be familiarly able at something) the phrase starts to make sense. Further, the two character phrase 生巧 is not a Chinese word following the verb-object pattern. Yet separately, 生 means to create or give birth and 巧 means highly skilled or proficient. Now put all four together and “familiarity through doing creates high proficiency” or “practice makes perfect”.

Here’s another one with a similar meaning, 勤学苦练 (qínxuékǔliàn):

The trick is to learn your 汉字 and become familiar with basic component of words to expand your vocabulary. Once you’ve entered about 250-500  independent characters into your repertoire, you’ll be able to break down and figure out these 成语 phrases without having to turn to a dictionary or ask a 朋友.

Remember, 熟能生巧! So keep at it. I’ve provided some four character 成语 idioms to the byki list below. See how well you do at deciphering some common phrases in this post‘s Vocaulary Byki list. Click here to download free Byki learning software.

Idiom vocab:

一举两得 (yìjǔliǎngdé)–”kill two birds with one stone”
宽容待人 (kuānróng dàirén)–”live and let live”
塞翁失马 (sàiwēngshīmǎ)– literally the old frontiersman losing his horse or “a blessing in disguise”
勤学苦练 (qínxuékǔliàn) — study diligently and train hard
吹毛求疵 (chuīmáoqiúcī) –”find fault in something”
熟能生巧 (shúnéngshēngqiǎo) –”practice makes perfect”

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It’s time for another installment of Chinese idioms!

痴人说梦 – chī rén shuō mèng – “A fool tells about his dreams”

Fools talk about their dreams...

Basically, this idiom means to talk complete nonsense. The story behind it talks of a rich family who had a very foolish son. One day, he awoke to see the maid in his room. As he had seen her in his dream, he asked if she had seen him in hers. When she responded that she had not seen him in her dream, he freaked out and tried to order his mom to have the maid beaten. This idiom can be used in many ways to refer to absurd and unreasonable words. Here are a few examples:

你们真是痴人说梦. – nǐ men zhēn shì chī rén shuō mèng

You guys are just kidding yourselves.

Get your story straight!

As this old story goes, there was a man named Ai Zi who was strolling along the road one day when he ran into Mao Kong. When he asked Mao Kong what had been going on recently, Mao replied, “Haven’t you heard?! Someone has raised a duck which can lay 100 eggs at one time!” Ai Zi was very doubtful of this claim, and he made Mao aware of this. “Well… it was two ducks that laid 100 eggs!” Once again, Ai Zi expressed his doubts. “Umm… then it was three ducks!” said Mao. Finally, Ai Zi asked him, “Where did you get your information from?” and Mao responded, “Well, I heard it at the roadside…” As such, this idiom is used to describe groundless hearsay or news.

囫囵吞枣 – hú lún tūn zǎo – “Swallow the dates whole”

Once upon a time, there was a man who loved eating pears and dates. However, one day a doctor told him, “Eating pears is good for your teeth, but overeating will harm your spleen. Dates are good for your spleen, but overeating will harm your teeth.” The man decided that as long as he only chewed the pears, and only swallowed the dates, he would be just fine. Of course, it wasn’t long before he experienced a horrible stomachache. This idiom is used to describe a person who accepts information without prior analysis, reflection, and understanding.

Here is a short video about the “swallow the date whole” idiom.