12 Sophisticated Chinese Idioms for HSK 6 Mastery

Helpless; having no alternative

Literal: Without any way to deal with it

Without (无) any (可) way of dealing with it (奈何). 奈何 is itself a question — how is this to be handled — so the phrase says there is no answer to the question, which is more exact than helplessness: the situation has been understood, and nothing follows from understanding it. Yan Shu's line fixed the ...

Self-righteous; opinionated

Literal: Considering oneself to be right

The label is Confucius's: 乡原，德之贼也, the man everyone in the village finds agreeable is the thief of virtue. Mencius takes the saying up when Wan Zhang asks him what it can possibly mean, and explains it — such a man is pleasing to all, takes his own view (自以为) to be right (是), and cannot be brought i...

Utter defeat; scattered in disarray

Literal: Falling flowers and flowing water

Falling (落) blossom (花) on flowing (流) water (水). It begins as a lyric image of late spring in Tang poetry, and it is worth noticing how completely the sense inverted: the same picture of petals broken off and carried away came to describe an army routed. Chinese now uses it almost exclusively for d...

Self-imposed restrictions; limiting oneself

Literal: Drawing ground as prison

Sima Qian, in the letter to Ren An written after his own mutilation, describes what a man of honour will do rather than face the officers: there are those for whom a circle drawn (画) on the ground (地) is a prison (为牢) they will not step out of, and a wooden figure of a jailer one they will not answe...

Proportionate to what it merits

Literal: Just as its portion requires

Exactly (恰) as (如) its own (其) measure (分) requires. 分 is a portion allotted, what something is due, so the phrase is about matching rather than about moderation: the response is neither too much nor too little for this particular case, and what counts as right is set by the case and not by a rule. ...

Upright and open; above board

Literal: Bright and open-hearted

Bright (光) and clear (明), open and unhidden (磊落). 磊 is three stones stacked out in the open, and the word keeps that sense of everything being where it can be counted. What the phrase claims is not that somebody has done no wrong but that nothing in their conduct is arranged to be hidden, which is a...

Exceptional literary or artistic talent

Literal: Wonderful brush produces flowers

A collection of Tang anecdotes records that Li Bai dreamed the tip of his brush had put out flowers, and that his gifts were extraordinary from then on. A marvellous (妙) brush (笔) growing (生) flowers (花) locates the talent in the instrument rather than in the labour, which is exactly what a legend a...

To disregard; put aside consideration of

Literal: Place it beyond consideration

To place (置) something (之) outside (外) what is being reckoned (度). Emperor Guangwu, holding most of the empire with two hold-outs left, said he would put those two beyond his calculations for the time being; the phrase is his. What it describes is not forgetting a factor but deciding to stop countin...

Capable of taking charge independently

Literal: Alone handle one side

Zhang Liang, advising Liu Bang on whom he could afford to rely on, said that of his generals only Han Xin could be trusted with great affairs and hold a front by himself. To take charge (当) of one side (一面) alone (独) is therefore a specific measurement of a person: not that they are talented, but th...

Having deep roots and long history

Literal: Source distant, flow long

A source (源) far off (远) and a current (流) that runs long (长). Both halves describe the same river from opposite ends, and what they claim together is continuity rather than mere age: the water arriving now is connected to the spring, and nothing in between has been cut. That is why it is applied to...

Perfect weather; favorable conditions

Literal: Wind gentle and sun beautiful

A gentle (和) wind (风) and a fine (丽) sun (日). Both halves are moderate on purpose — 和 is harmonious rather than strong, 丽 is lovely rather than blazing — so what is being praised is weather with nothing extreme in it, which is a whole aesthetic preference stated in four characters. It belongs at the...

Incomparable; unparalleled

Literal: Nothing to compare with

Nothing (无) with which (与) to rank it (伦比). 伦 means a category or a peer group, so the claim is not that the thing is the best but that no comparison class exists for it — there is nothing of the same kind to line it up against. That is why it functions as the top of the Chinese scale of praise. It ...