Once upon a time, there was a crow chilling on a tree branch. He looked below and saw a black pig and said out loud:HAHA! Look at this pig, he looks dirty.The pig looked around and finally realized it was an equally black crow who was poking fun at him. He responds:Oh, it’s just a pathetic filthy little crow.The crow became offended and shouts:Who are you calling filthy? Have you taken a look at yourself?The pig clapped back:Have you?!After a string of arguing back and forth. They walked over to the nearest pond to see determine who was the lesser attractive animal. They stared at their reflection, looked at each other in detail and remained silent for a while. Then the crow happily spoke up and said:There’s nothing wrong with having a dark coat!The pig happily agreed:Yeah I think black is a good look!Moral of the idiom: Don’t judge someone else before taking a good look at yourself. Additionally, just because someone has similar traits to you, does not also mean it’s a good thing. BLOG RSS
In the 800 BC, during the Zhou dynasty, there was a man from the country of Zheng. (Modern day center of China).One day, he was working so hard he ripped his shoes. He says: oh no! I'll have to run into town and buy myself a few pair of shoes.He carefully measured his feet with a string and head out to the marketplace.When he arrived at a shoe merchant, he saw plenty of options but noticed he left his measuring string back at home. He tells the merchant he'll be right back, and frantically runs back to his home.He goes back home, retrieves the string and heads back to the marketplace. Unfortunately, he wasted so much time running back and forth that the merchants have all started to close up shop. The poor man did not get to buy a new pair of shoes.Depressed, he sits down and laments. Villagers came up to him and asked him why he didn't just try on the new shoes on the spot. He responds: the string is more accurate measurement of my feet, I am sure of it. My feet are unreliable.That...
This story took place during the warring states in the country of Qi. The leader of Qi was Qi Xuan Wang. We can call him King Qi for short. He enjoyed raising roosters for cock fights. Terrible sport, but that's because there were no street racing, boxing or other competitions for him back then.He hired a cock-fighting expert named Ji Sheng Zi to train his pet roosters. But King Qi was an impatient dude so a few days after training began, he went to bother Ji Sheng Zi. The trainer said "No, this rooster is not ready."King Qi returned a few days later to check on his roosters hoping that they'd be ready for fighting. He bothers Ji Sheng Zi again who responded, "This rooster is still not quite ready, he's easily angered and still needs more training."King Qi's patience grew weary and he returned a few days later to ask the trainer. This time, he was surprised that Ji Sheng Zi said "Yes! This rooster is mature enough to fight!"Finally, King Qi was able to bring his prized rooster to th...
Dong Shi Xiao Pin BLOG RSS 說春秋時候，越國有個名叫西施的姑娘，她非常美麗、漂亮，一舉一動也很動人。她有心口疼的疾病，犯病時總是用手按住胸口，緊皺眉頭。因為人們喜歡她，所以她這副病態，在人們眼里也嫵媚可愛，楚楚動人。 西施的鄰村有個醜姑娘叫東施，總是想方設法打扮自己。有一次在路上碰到西施，見西施手捂胸口，緊皺眉頭，顯得異常美麗。她想難怪人們說她漂亮，原來是做出這種樣子。如果我也做這個姿勢，肯定就變漂亮了。於是她模仿西施的病態。結果人們見了原來就醜的她，現在變成這種瘋瘋癲癲的樣子，象見了鬼一樣，趕緊把門關上。During the Spring and Autumn period, there was a beautiful girl who lived in the country of Yue. Her name was Xi Shi, one of the 4 beauties in Chinese history. She was so freakin' beautiful that everything she did was perceived to be beautiful. Even when she winces from her chest pain she looked gorgeous...painfully gorgeous. Because everyone in the village loved her so much, whenever she was in pain and grabbed her chest, people thought it was rather adorable.A few houses away, the...
JI MAO SUAN PI BLOG RSS Once upon a time, in China (obviously), there were two neighboring families. One family slaughtered chickens for a living, and the other ran a restaurant...a very garlicky restaurant.The family who slaughtered chickens had to pluck the chicken feathers every morning and would leave their floors a mess. The family with the restaurant would peel garlic and leave the shavings all over their floors. This mess took place almost every day.Now, when the wind blows, sometimes the chicken feathers would fly over to the garlic side. And other times, the garlic peel would find itself being blown over to the chicken feather side. Both families would get upset and blamed the other party for the mess. Even though both are technically responsible.They brought this issue up to the magistrate who immediately dismissed the problem as soon as he read: chicken feathers and garlic peel.Ever since then, the Chinese would refer to trivial matters as "chicken feathers and garlic pee...
按圖索驥：AN TU SUO JI BLOG RSS This is a funny idiom about the most famous horse expert in China...Bo Le. He was a resident from the country of Qin. He recorded everything he knew about horses in an anthology of books called "Shiang Ma Jing." Which was like an encyclopedia on thorough bred horses. His writings could be used to find the fastest, strongest horse...mostly for military/sporting purposes.Bo Le had a little son who was obsessed with finding the finest horse on his own. The little boy had thoroughly read the "Shiang Ma Jing" over and over, inside and out. One day he went off to look for a horse on his own. Shortly after running outside, he was SO sure he found a horse that matched the description in his father's books. The boy threw the horse into a sack and excitedly ran to show it off to his father.Bo Le's son took the horse out of the sack and waited for his father's validation. Turns out, the horse in the sack...was a huge toad! Bo Le laughed and joked to his son: "Th...
BLOG RSS This idiom is about a silly man named Du Hsuan and how he found a snake in his cup of wine when he attended the magistrate's party. The magistrate was a man who loved to encourage his guests to drink so Du Hsuan had no choice but to comply. Shortly after, he got sick...really sick. He called the doctor, but the doctor could not properly diagnose his problems.The magistrate thought it was a bit strange that Du Hsuan disappeared for a while so he paid the sick man a visit. Du Hsuan INSISTED there was a snake in his cup that night of the dreadful party. The magistrate was curious so he returned back to his mansion and contemplated the scene of the "crime." He poured himself another cup of wine, and saw...to his amazement, the reflection of a bow that was hanging on his wall. That darn reflection was the reason Du Hsuan thought he saw a snake in his cup.The magistrate went back to Du Hsuan to reveal that there was never a snake in the cup...it was just the reflection of a bow. ...
鷸蚌相爭：YU BANG SHIANG ZHENG BLOG RSS This is a fantastic parable about a clam who wouldn't let go of a snipe, and the snipe refused to let go of the clam.The snipe says to the clam: If I don't let go today, and I don't let go tomorrow, you'll get de-hydrated and I'll be seeing a dead clam on the beach tomorrow.The clam says to the snipe: If I don't let go today, and I don't let go tomorrow. You'll simply starve, and I'll be seeing a dead snipe on the beach tomorrow.Little do they know, neither of them are winners. They're both about to be dinner. (Oooo that rhymes!)MORAL OF THE IDIOM: Learn to let go of the things before they consume you.
BLOG RSS This idiom is a fantastic parable about 5 blind men who all touch only a part of an elephant and insisted they saw its entirety. Be humble. Allow the possibility that you could very well be wrong about something.ORIGINAL IDIOM: 盲人摸象從前，有四個盲人很想知道大象是什麼樣子，可他們看不見，只好用手摸。胖盲人先摸到了大象的牙齒。他就說：“我知道了，大象就像一個又大、又粗、又光滑的大蘿卜。”高個子盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵。“不對，不對，大象明明是一把大扇子！”他大叫起來。“大象只是根大柱子。”矮個子盲人摸著大象的腿說道。那位年老的盲人卻說：“唉，大象哪有那麼大，它只不過是一根繩子。”四個盲人不斷爭吵，都說自己摸到的才是真正大象的樣子。而實際上呢？他們一個也没說對。
葉公好龍：YEH GONG HAO LONG BLOG RSS During the Spring and Autumn period (771-476BC), there was an official from the country of Chu by the name of Mister Ye GongMister Ye was famous for being a huge fan of dragons. His ceilings would have paintings of dragons, the beams in his house would be carved with dragon designs. All four walls in his home had paintings of dragons.His reputation for being a dragon-enthusiast spread to the dragon deity in the heavens. This real-life dragon was humbled by Ye Gong's devotion and thought: hmm, I must pay this Ye Gong fellow a visit.So the dragon deity flew down for an unannounced visit...determined to meet Ye Gong face-to-face. But here's the thing about dragons, when they descend from the sky, they are followed by thunder, lightning and a heck of a lot of wind.As the dragon approached, unbeknownst to Ye Gong,the heavy wind and rain caused his windows to fly open. As Ye Gong went to shut his windows, he was shocked to see a giant dragon face. A RE...