6 Clever Chinese Idioms With Snake (蛇)

Ruin by adding extras

Literal meaning: Draw snake add feet

The ancient parable tells of an artist who lost a wine-drinking contest because he spent extra time adding legs to his snake drawing (画蛇添足). The story entered common usage during the Han Dynasty as a warning against ruining sufficiency through unnecessary additions. Today it reminds us how overelabo...

Needlessly suspicious

Literal meaning: Bow in cup snake shadow

This tale from the Jin Dynasty chronicles a scholar who saw a bow's (弓) reflection in his cup (杯), mistaking it for a snake (蛇) shadow (影). His subsequent illness from fear only subsided when he discovered the truth. First recorded in 'Jin Shu', the story resonated with Buddhist teachings about how ...

Strong start with weak finish

Literal meaning: Tiger head snake tail

Tang Dynasty literary critics gave us this image of a tiger's head (虎头) with a snake's tail (蛇尾) to describe works that begin powerfully but end weakly. Song Dynasty writers expanded it beyond literature to any project showing declining quality over time. The zoological mismatch perfectly captured t...