Chinese idiom-bimenzaoche

闭门造车Chinese idiom-bimenzaoche

Chinese idiom-bimenzaoche

In ancient times, there was a man who wanted to make a fine chariot. But, instead of learning how to do it from experts, he shut himself up at home and worked at it. Despite the time and effort he spent on it, the chariot was useless.

This idiom is used metaphorically to mean being too subjective and disregarding the rest of the world.

chinese idiom-bamiaozhuzhang

Chinese idiom-bamiaozhuzhang

There once was an impatient farmer who lived during the Song Dynasty (sòng cháo 宋国,960-1279 AD). Everyday the anxious farmer would measure the growth of the crops. To his dismay, his crops were growing much slower than he expected.The farmer racked his brains trying to find better ways of planting in order to get quicker results. One day he finally came up with a solution. He started to physically pull the crops out of the ground, thus making them taller. The farmer worked very hard and at day’s end was physically exhausted but mentally happy as his plan had produced the desired results.When the farmer went home, he told his son of his “brilliant” method. His son went to the field only to discover that all of his crops were all dead.

chinese idiom-baifabaizhong

Chinese idiom- baifabaizhong

In the Spring and Autumn Period (chūn qiū shí qī  春秋时期,770-476 BC) ,there was an expert archer in the State of Chu (chǔ guó 楚国) called Yang Youji (yáng yóu jī 养由基). To test his skill, someone chose three leaves at different heights on a willow tree, and challenged him to hit them in order. Yang Youji stood more than one hundred paces away, and hit the three leaves in order.

This idiom describes excellent marksmanship. Later it became used to indicate great and assurance.

chinese idiom-wangyangbulao

亡羊补牢 

【拼音】：wáng yáng bǔ láo

A man who raised sheep once noticed there was a hole in the walls of his sheepfold. But he neglected to repair it. A few days later, several sheep were missing. His friend advised him: "It is not too late to mend the sheepfold."

"Wang Yang Bu Lao" or "Mending the sheepfold after the sheep have been stolen" advises us that even though we have suffer a loss, it is never too late to take steps to prevent further losses.

画龙点睛Putting the Finishing Touch to the Picture of a Dragon

传说南北朝（公元420-589）时期有个画家叫张僧繇。一次，他到一个寺庙去游玩，在墙壁上画了四条龙，可是都没有画出眼睛。看画的人觉得很奇怪，问他为什么不画上眼睛。他说：“眼睛是龙的关键，画上眼睛，龙就会飞走了。”大家不相信他说的话。张僧繇拿起笔来，刚给两条龙点上眼睛，立刻电闪雷鸣，刮起了大风，下起了大雨，两条龙腾空而起，飞向天空，墙上只剩下两条没有画眼睛的龙。

“画龙点睛”赞美了画家高超的技艺。这个成语用来比喻讲话或写文章时，在关键的地方加一两句重要的话，就会使内容更加生动有力。

Putting the Finishing Touch to the Picture of a Dragon

In the Southern and Northern Dynasties Period (420-589), there was a painter called Zhang Sengyou. Once he visited a temple and painted on the wall four dragons, but gave none of them eyes. The onlookers felt that this was odd, and asked why he hadn't painted the eyes. He answered, 'Eyes are crucial for dragons. With the eyes painted on, the dragons would fly away.' Nobody believed this, so Zhang Sengyou took up his brush and added eyes to two of the dragons. No sooner had he finished than the two dragons flew into the sky amid a thunderstorm. The two without eyes stayed painted on the wall.

This idiom is used to describe how, when writing or speaking, one or two key sentences will enhance the contents.

南辕北辙Going South by Driving the Chariot North

从前有个人要到南方去，他坐的车子却向北方行驶。过路人说：“你去南方，车子怎么向北行驶呢？”他回答说：“我的马很能跑路，我的车夫驾车的技术也很高明，加上我又带了充足的路费。”这个人没有考虑到，方向弄反了，他的条件越好，离他要去的地方就越远。

后来人们就把这个故事叫做“南辕北辙”，比喻一个人的行为和他的目的正好相反。

Going South by Driving the Chariot North

Once a man wanted to go to the south, but his carriage was heading north. A passer-by asked him: “If you are going to the south, why is your chariot heading north? ” The man answered, “My horse is good at running, my driver is highly skilled at driving a carriage, and I have enough money. ” The man didn't consider that the direction might be wrong; the better his conditions were, the further he was away from his destination.

The idiom derived from this story indicates that one's action was the opposite effect to one's intention.

chinese idiom-hujiahuwei

Once there was a Tiger (Hu) who caught a Fox (Hu). Just when the Tiger wanted to eat the Fox, the Fox started to laugh and said, 'How dare you? I am the king of the jungle!' The Tiger was baffled and replied, 'Who has heard of a Fox being the king of the jungle?' The Fox replied, 'If you don't believe me, follow me into the jungle. I will show you how all animals are afraid of me.' As the Tiger followed the Fox into the jungle, he was surprised to find that all the animals started to run for their lives. Actually, the animals ran from the Tiger instead of the Fox, but the Tiger did not know that. The Tiger apologized to the Fox and let him go free.

Applications: This phrase means a fox borrows the tiger's power or influence，it is  often used to describe people who oppress others, using the authority of their superiors.

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