12 Chinese Idioms With Fascinating Origin Stories
Chinese idioms with the most interesting historical stories behind them - learn the tales that created these expressions.
Every Chinese idiom has a story, but some are particularly captivating. These idioms come with memorable tales from Chinese history, literature, and folklore that make them unforgettable.
破釜沉舟
pò fǔ chén zhōuCommit with no retreat
Literal: Break pots sink boats
In 207 BCE Xiang Yu took his army across the river to relieve Julu, and then had the boats (舟) sunk (沉) and the cooking pots (釜) smashed (破), keeping three days' rations and nothing else. The Records of the Grand Historian is explicit that this was done to show the troops they would die rather than ...
Example
He quit his job to start a business, fully committed to success
他辞去工作创业，全身心投入追求成功
塞翁失马
sài wēng shī mǎMisfortune might be a blessing
Literal: Old man loses horse
The Huainanzi tells of a man living out by the frontier, known ever since as the Old Man of the Frontier — 塞翁, from 塞, a border pass, and 翁, an old man. His horse (马) was lost (失), simply ran off. His neighbours came to console him and he asked how they knew it was not good fortune; the horse return...
Example
Losing his job led him to find his true calling
失业反而让他找到了真正的使命
夜郎自大
yè láng zì dàOverestimate oneself
Literal: Small kingdom thinks itself great
Yelang (夜郎) was a small state on the southwestern frontier of the Han empire. The Records of the Grand Historian relates that when a Han envoy reached it, its king asked whether Yelang or Han was the larger — a question that makes sense only to someone who has never left his own valley. The phrase f...
Example
Having never left his small town, he thought his local success made him world-class
从未离开过小城镇的他，以为本地的成功就意味着世界级水平
画龙点睛
huà lóng diǎn jīngAdd crucial finishing touch
Literal: Dot dragon's eyes
Zhang Sengyou painted four dragons on a temple wall in Jinling and left them without pupils, saying that if he dotted the eyes they would fly away. Pressed, he dotted two. Thunder split the wall and those two went up into the cloud; the two he had left blind were still there. The account is in Zhang...
Example
Her final edit transformed the good presentation into an excellent one
她最后的修改把这个好的演讲变成了一个出色的演讲
狐假虎威
hú jiǎ hǔ wēiBorrow authority to intimidate
Literal: Fox uses tiger's power
A tiger caught a fox, and the fox said heaven had made it lord of the beasts, so eating it would be defying heaven — walk behind me and see whether anything dares stand its ground. The tiger followed, the animals fled, and the tiger concluded the fox had been telling the truth. The Strategies of the...
Example
The junior manager kept dropping the CEO's name to get his way
这个初级经理总是搬出CEO的名字来达到目的
毛遂自荐
máo suì zì jiànVolunteer oneself confidently
Literal: Mao Sui recommends himself
Zhao needed an alliance with Chu and the Lord of Pingyuan could find only nineteen suitable men among his retainers. Mao Sui (毛遂) put himself (自) forward (荐). Asked how long he had been in the household and told three years, the lord said that a man of ability is like an awl in a bag — the point sho...
Example
When no one else stepped forward, she boldly volunteered to lead the difficult project
当没有人愿意站出来时，她主动请缨领导这个困难的项目
黔驴技穷
qián lǘ jì qióngRun out of tricks
Literal: Donkey's tricks exhausted
Liu Zongyuan's fable has no donkeys in Guizhou (黔) until a meddler ships one in and turns it loose on a hillside. A tiger sees this huge thing, takes it for a god, and watches from cover. The donkey (驴) brays; the tiger bolts. Nothing happens, so the tiger edges closer, brushes against it, provokes ...
Example
After his one viral video, he struggled to recreate that success
在他那一个视频走红之后，就再也没能复制那样的成功
守株待兔
shǒu zhū dài tùWait passively for luck
Literal: Guard the stump, wait for a rabbit
This Warring States period parable tells of a farmer who, after seeing a rabbit die by running into a tree stump (株), waited (待) endlessly for more rabbits (兔) at the same spot. His guard (守) of the stump became a classic example of misguided persistence and inflexible thinking. The story appeared i...
Example
Instead of developing new skills, he just waited for promotions to come
他没有提升技能，只是等待升职机会
完璧归赵
wán bì guī zhàoReturn something perfect
Literal: Return jade to Zhao complete
Qin offered fifteen cities for Zhao's famous jade disc, and everyone understood the cities would never be handed over. Lin Xiangru carried the jade (璧) to Qin, watched the king pass it round his court without a word about payment, and said there was a flaw he would point out — got it back into his o...
Example
The courier safely delivered the precious artifact to the museum
快递员安全地将珍贵文物送到了博物馆
三人成虎
sān rén chéng hǔRepeated lie becomes truth
Literal: Three people make tiger real
Pang Cong, about to leave Wei escorting a hostage prince to Handan, asked his king whether he would believe a man who reported a tiger (虎) in the marketplace. No. Two men? He would wonder. Three (三) men (人)? The king said he would believe it. There is no tiger in the marketplace, Pang Cong said, and...
Example
The untrue rumor about a product defect spread on social media until customers started believing it without evidence
关于产品缺陷的不实传言在社交媒体上传播，直到顾客开始在没有证据的情况下相信它
亡羊补牢
wáng yáng bǔ láoNever too late to fix
Literal: Fix pen after lost sheep
The Strategies of the Warring States gives it to the minister Zhuang Xin, speaking to the King of Chu after part of the kingdom has already been lost: seeing the hare and turning to call the hound is not too late, and mending (补) the pen (牢) after losing (亡) the sheep (羊) is not too late either — 亡羊...
Example
After the security breach, the company finally upgraded their systems
在安全漏洞事件后，公司终于升级了系统
叶公好龙
yè gōng hào lóngProfessed love hiding actual fear
Literal: Lord Ye loves dragons
Lord Ye (叶公) loved (好) dragons (龙): they were on his belt-hooks, on his chisels, carved through the rooms of his house. The real dragon heard of it and came, put its head in at the window and its tail into the hall, and Lord Ye ran with his wits gone. Liu Xiang tells it against a ruler who said he w...
Example
The executive claimed to value innovation but rejected every new idea presented
这位高管声称重视创新，但拒绝了提出的每一个新想法
Quick Reference
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