8 Chinese Horse Idioms You Need to Know (马成语大全) - Year of the Horse 2026

Childhood sweethearts or friends

Literal meaning: Green plums and bamboo horses

This nostalgic idiom pairs green plums (青梅) with bamboo horses (竹马), originating from Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai's verse about childhood playmates. It described children gathering plums while riding makeshift hobby horses crafted from bamboo—a common children's game in ancient China. The specific imag...

Deliberately distort truth as power display

Literal meaning: Point deer call horse

This idiom references the historical incident where someone pointed at (指) a deer (鹿) and called it (为) a horse (马), originating from the Qin Dynasty. Historical records recount how powerful minister Zhao Gao tested his influence by leading a deer into court and calling it a horse, executing officia...

Stop before too late

Literal meaning: Pull horse at cliff edge

This vivid idiom describes pulling (勒) a horse's reins at the edge of a cliff (悬崖), drawing from actual incidents along the treacherous mountain paths of ancient China. Military chronicles from the Warring States period detail how skilled horsemen would train their steeds to stop abruptly at dangero...

Observe hastily and superficially

Literal meaning: View flowers from galloping horse

This vivid idiom describes viewing (观) flowers (花) while riding (走) a galloping horse (马), originating from Tang Dynasty tourism practices. Historical records mention how imperial messengers or officials traveling quickly through regions could only glimpse scenes briefly before moving on. The image ...

Restless, unfocused mind

Literal meaning: Heart monkey mind horse

This restless idiom compares the heart/mind (心) to a monkey (猿) and thoughts/intentions (意) to a galloping horse (马), originating from Buddhist meditation texts during the Tang Dynasty. It described the challenging experience of untamed consciousness constantly jumping between objects of attention. ...

Just so-so or passable quality

Literal meaning: Horse horse tiger tiger

This moderate assessment idiom, literally 'horse (马) horse tiger (虎) tiger,' emerged from a folk tale about a careless artist whose painting was neither clearly a horse nor a tiger. During the Qing Dynasty, it appeared in vernacular literature describing casual or imprecise work. The repeating anima...

Individual whose behavior harms entire group

Literal meaning: Harm herd's horse

Han Dynasty horse breeders first noted how a single problematic horse (马) could harm (害) an entire herd (群). Tang Dynasty administrators adopted it to describe how one disruptive official could damage entire departments. The agricultural observation proved universally applicable - groups dependent o...

Superficial observation without depth

Literal meaning: Galloping horse views flowers

This idiom describes viewing flowers (看花) while galloping past on horseback (走马), originating from Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin's verses lamenting hasty appreciation of beauty. The image perfectly captures the blur of motion - a rider glimpsing floral colors without perceiving individual petals or ...