成语Chinese idioms

by cclstaffAttention: This post is over 3 years old and the information may be out of date.August 24, 2020

成语 (pronounced as “cheng yu”) – Chinese idioms

成语是中文的重要的一个组成部分。成语用固定的结构和词语来表达一个概念。中国成语渊源已久。在长期的历史当中，人民根据神话故事，寓言故事，历史事件及文学作品等演发出了很多简短明了表达精炼的固定用语。大部分的成语都是由四个汉字所组成。成语包罗万象，有关于人物的，动物的，事物的及抽象概念的。有一些成语可以从字面理解其意思，而有一些成语的字面意思却与表达的意思有所不同。每个成语的背后都有一个故事来源。

以下是两个成语的例子：

例子	发音	字面意思	表达意思
半途而废	Ban Tu Er Fei	在途中的一半停下来	事情没有做完就放弃，不能坚持到底
故事来源
孟子刚刚到达私塾读书时非常用功，但慢慢地就变得松懈了。他还常常因为贪玩儿旷课逃学。有一天，孟子回到家里看见母亲正在织布。她手中的布就要织完了，她却突然用剪刀把布剪断了。孟子感到很惊讶。孟母对他说：“你看这块布被我剪断了就不能继续织下去了。学习也是一样，如果中途停下来就学不到知识了。”孟子被母亲的行为和话语所感动，从此刻苦学习，后来成为了古代中国著名的哲学家，政治家，教育家。

例子	发音	字面意思	表达意思
掩耳盗铃	Yan Er Dao Ling	捂住自己的耳朵去偷铃铛	欺骗自己，掩盖无法掩盖的事实
故事来源
从前有一个人名叫李四。他看到别人家的大门前挂了一个特别好看的铃铛就想把它偷走。但每当他去碰这个铃铛，它就会发出叮铃铃的响声，别人就会注意到有人试图偷走铃铛。李四后来想到了一个办法。他想如果我把我的耳朵捂起来的话我就听不到声音了。他就到那户人家门前捂住了自己的耳朵再试图偷盗那个铃铛。当然了，虽然李四听不到了铃铛的声音但是别人还是能听到的。所以李四被官府当场抓住并以偷盗罪判了刑。

Chinese idioms is an important part of Chinese language. Idioms use set structures and phrases to express a particular meaning. Chinese idioms have been invented and used for centuries. During the long history of China, based on mythical legends, fables, historical events and literature work, many simple and precise phrases were invented, which later became the idioms. Most Chinese idioms are made up with four Chinese characters. Chinese idioms cover many aspects of life: people, animals, objects and abstract concepts. Some idioms can be understood by its literal meaning while others’ expressive meanings are different from their literal meanings. All of the Chinese idioms have stories behind them to explain the origins of these phrases.

The following are two examples of Chinese idioms:

Example	Pronunciation	Literal meaning	Expressive meaning
半途而废	Ban Tu Er Fei	Stopped at halfway	Give up halfway, leave something unfinished
Origin
Mencius (Meng Zi) was very hard working with his studies when he first went to school. However, as time went on, he became very slack. He always skipped school because he went out to play. One day, when he came home he saw his mum was sewing some cloth. Her cloth was almost done, but she suddenly cut it up in half with a pair of scissors. Meng Zi was very surprised. His mums then said to him: “Look at this piece of cloth. Now that it’s cut in half that I will no longer be able to continue sewing it. The same goes for studies: if you stop half way then you will not be able to continue learning.” Meng Zi was moved by his mum and from then on he studied hard and became a famous philosopher, politician and educationalist.

Example	Pronunciation	Literal meaning	Expressive meaning
掩耳盗铃	Yan Er Dao Ling	Cover your ears to steal a bell	Deceive oneself, bury one’s head in the sand
Origin
Long time ago, there was a man called Li Si. One day, he saw a beautiful bell hanging outside a house. He liked the bell so much that he wanted to steal it. But every time he touched it, the bell would make a ringing sound and other people would be alerted to the scene. Li Si thought hard for a solution. Finally, he thought that if he covers up his ears then he won’t hear the ringing sound of the bell and maybe other people won’t hear it either. He covered up his ears and then tried to steal the bell. But of course other people can still hear the bell ring and Li Si got caught in the act and later sentenced for his crime.

做一做, 找一找 Challenges for you

学习成语。Learn some Chinese idioms.

The following two Youtube channels has videos of learning Chinese idioms.

中文成語學習 01 (Learning Chinese Idioms 01)

成语Daily Chinese Idioms (1) | 水火不容 Oil and Water

画成语故事。Draw a picture according to the idiom’s story.

下面是我根据掩耳盗铃的成语故事画的，你们也来试试画一画吧。

The following picture is what I drew based on the Yan Er Dao Ling idiom story. Would you like to try drawing one for this or other idiom stories?

把你们画好的成语故事画或找到的成语在下面留言告诉我们吧。You can post your drawings or the idioms you found in the comments below.