10 Chinese Idioms & Their Korean Proverb Equivalents

Sudden, remarkable success

Literal: One cry startles everyone

King Zhuang of Chu spent three years on the throne issuing no orders at all. An officer put him a riddle about a bird that for three years had neither stirred its wings nor called, and the king answered that though it had not flown, when it flew it would reach the heavens, and though it had not crie...

Practice what you know

Literal: Knowledge and action unite as one

Wang Yangming reached his enlightenment in exile at Longchang in Guizhou in 1508, and began teaching this doctrine the following year, when he was invited to head the academy at Guiyang: knowing (知) and acting (行) are one (合一) rather than two stages. His claim is stronger than an exhortation to put ...

Using outdated methods foolishly

Literal: Mark boat to find sword

The Lüshi Chunqiu, compiled around 239 BCE at the close of the Warring States period, tells of a man of Chu who dropped his sword (剑) from a boat (舟) into the river and, instead of diving after it, cut a notch (刻) in the boat's side to mark the spot, meaning to search (求) there once the boat docked....

Mistaking partial knowledge for complete wisdom

Literal: Blind person touches elephant

A king had blind (盲) men (人) brought to feel (摸) an elephant (象) and say what it was: the one who got the tusk said a radish, the ear a winnowing basket, the leg a pillar, the tail a rope — and none of them was inventing anything. The parable comes into Chinese with the Buddhist canon. Its sharpness...

Showing amateur skills to masters

Literal: Wield an axe at Lu Ban's gate

Brandishing (弄) an axe (斧) at the gate (门) of Lu Ban (班), the legendary carpenter and patron of Chinese craftsmen. The image was already proverbial when a Ming poet, finding graffiti scrawled on Li Bai's grave, wrote that writing verse there was like wielding a great axe at Lu Ban's door. It is most...

Creating without practical feedback

Literal: Build cart behind closed doors

This comes from Zhu Xi of the Song dynasty, who quotes an older saying: build (造) the cart (车) behind closed (闭) doors (门), and it will still match the wheel ruts when you take it outside. In the original the phrase is approving — the standards are shared, so working alone still produces something t...

Lose abilities through misguided imitation

Literal: Handan learn walking

The Zhuangzi asks whether you have not heard about the young man of Shouling who went to Handan (邯郸) to learn how they walked there (学步). He never acquired their gait, and lost his own along the way, and had to crawl home. That is the whole story and it is two lines long. The phrase describes imitat...

Actions contrary to one's goals

Literal: Shafts point south, ruts run north

The Strategies of the Warring States tells of a man who wanted to travel to the southern state of Chu and drove his carriage north. When asked why, he boasted of his fast horses, skilled driver, and ample provisions, failing to realize that these advantages would only take him further from his desti...

Sacrifice long-term benefits for short-term gains

Literal: Kill chicken take eggs

Killing (杀) the hen (鸡) in order to take (取) the eggs (卵) — destroying what produces in order to have what it produced. Versions of the fable appear across many traditions, and the point is the arithmetic of impatience rather than anything about poultry. What it names is not greed alone but greed th...

Empty promises satisfy nothing

Literal: Draw cakes to alleviate hunger

Emperor Ming of Wei, telling Lu Yu how to pick men for office, said not to choose by reputation: a reputation is like a cake drawn on the ground, and you cannot eat it. The Records of the Three Kingdoms preserves the order, and the four-character form drew (画) the cake (饼) instead. Drawing the cake ...