{"id":4488,"date":"2019-11-19T12:38:27","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T12:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-phrases\/chinese-allegories-lesson-27\/"},"modified":"2019-11-19T12:38:27","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T12:38:27","slug":"chinese-allegories-lesson-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/th\/chinese-allegories-lesson-27\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese allegories Lesson 27"},"content":{"rendered":"
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g\u01d4 d\u01d2ng d\u0101ng pò làn mài – bù shí huò
<\/em><\/font>\u53e4\u8463\u5f53\u7834\u70c2\u5356 – \u4e0d\u8bc6\u8d27<\/strong>
Take antiques for junk and sell them – be unable to tell good from bad; don’t know what’s what<\/p>\n

ji\u01d4 gu\u01d0 h\u0113 qì shu\u01d0 – bù guò y\u01d0n
<\/font><\/em>\u9152\u9b3c\u559d\u6c7d\u6c34 – \u4e0d\u8fc7\u763e
<\/strong>A drunkard drinks soda water. – One can’t enjoy oneself to the full; one can’t do something to his heart’s content.<\/p>\n

zào wang yé r\u0113ng shí tou – zá gu\u014d
<\/font><\/em>\u7076\u738b\u7237\u6254\u77f3\u5934 – \u7838\u9505
<\/strong>The Kitchen God throws stones – literally, to break the pot; figuratively, ruin the matter.<\/p>\n

b\u0101 xi\u0101n jù huì – yòu shu\u014d yòu xiào
<\/font><\/em>\u516b\u4ed9\u805a\u4f1a – \u53c8\u8bf4\u53c8\u7b11 <\/span><\/strong>
A gathering of Eight Immortals – speaking and laughing; like the Eight Immortals at a gathering, they are talking and laughing merrily.<\/p>\n

Note: The Eight Immortals refer to the eight Taoists in a Chinese legend, namely, Han Zhongli, Zhang Guolao, Lü Dongbin, Tieguai Li, Han Xiangzi, Cao Guojiu, Lan Caihe and He Xiangu.<\/p>\n

wáng x\u012b zh\u012b xi\u011b zì – héng shù d\u014du h\u01ceo<\/font><\/em>
\u738b\u7fb2\u4e4b\u5199\u5b57 – \u6a2a\u7ad6\u90fd\u597d <\/span><\/strong>
A character out of Wang Xizhi’s hand – vertical strokes are as good as horizontal ones; like Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy, it is good in every way.<\/p>\n

Note: Wang Xizhi was a famous Chinese calligrapher and a Chinese character is usually composed of strokes, of which the vertical and horizontal ones are the most commonly used. "héng shù" here has two interpretations: 1) the horizontal and vertical strokes; 2) horizontally or vertically, that is, in any way.<\/p>\n

niú ji\u01ceo m\u014f yóu – yòu ji\u0101n (ji\u0101n) yòu huá (huá)<\/font><\/em>
\u725b\u89d2\u62b9\u6cb9 – \u53c8\u5c16\uff08\u5978\uff09\u53c8\u6ed1\uff08\u733e\uff09<\/strong>
Spreading oil on an ox horn – to make it sharper and more slippery or cunning and treacherous.<\/p>\n

f\u0113i j\u012b shàng tiào s\u01cen – y\u012b luò qi\u0101n zhàng<\/font><\/em>
\u98de\u673a\u4e0a\u8df3\u4f1e – \u4e00\u843d\u5343\u4e08<\/strong>
Bale out from a flying plane – drop down a thousand <\/span>zhang<\/em> <\/span>or suffer a drastic decline; like jumping from a flying plane, they decline drastically.<\/p>\n

Note: <\/span>zhang<\/em> <\/span>(\u4e08) is a unit of length in Chinese (one <\/span>zhang<\/em> <\/span>equals about 3.3 meters).<\/p>\n

qín sh\u016b b\u01ceo mài m\u01ce – qióng tú mò lù<\/font><\/em>
\u79e6\u53d4\u5b9d\u5356\u9a6c – \u7a77\u9014\u672b\u8def<\/strong>
Qin Shubao sells his horse – the last resort to overcome his difficulty; like Qin Shubao selling his horse, they are driven into a dead end<\/p>\n

Note: Qin Qiong, styled Shubao, was a famous general in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Before becoming a general, he was penniless and had no way out but to sell his own horse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n