曲高和寡

Pronunciation: qǔ gāo hè guǎ Literal meaning: Tune high harmony few

Origin & Usage

Song Yu, asked by the King of Chu why so many people spoke ill of him, answered with a singer who came to Ying, the Chu capital. He began with common songs and thousands joined in; as the pieces grew more refined the number who could sing along fell to a few dozen, and then to a handful. The loftier (高) the melody (曲), the fewer (寡) join in (和). It is a defence of himself, and a slightly self-serving one — the argument being that unpopularity is evidence of quality. Work too specialised or too demanding to find a wide audience — and it can be said in sympathy or in self-congratulation.

Examples

English: "The experimental film received critical acclaim but struggled to find a mainstream audience"

Chinese: 这部实验电影获得了评论界的赞誉，但难以吸引主流观众