成语 (Chengyu) Flashcards
井底之蛙
Jing(3) Di(3) Zhi(1) Wa(1)
The Frog at the Bottom of the Well - Used to refer to someone who talks a lot about a lot of things without any wider knowledge/someone who has never left the small context in which they were born and raised (the story is about a frog who lived happily at the bottom of the well. When a sea turtle came along he told him how wonderful the well was, until he heard that there was another world outside of it).
木人石心
Mu(4) Ren(2) Shi(2) Xin(1)
Wood Man with a Stone Heart - Used to describe someone with firm principles, who cannot be bought or tempted. Comes originally from a story about the Jin Dynasty official who tried to tempt a principled man.
盲人摸象
Mang Ren Mo Xiang
Blind Man Touching the Elephant - Used to allude toa story of four blind men describing an elephant as different things, depending on which part of it they were touching. The moral being that you cannot draw conclusions from only partial information.
精诚所至，金石为开
Jing Cheng Suo Zhi, Jin Shi Wei Kai
With Resolve of Heart, Even Gold and Stone Breaks Open - Derives from a story of a famous general who shot a rock thinking it was a tiger, and pierced the rock through with his arrow. He could not repeat the feat because his mind was not concentrated enough, hence you need utter focus and sincerity to impact on things unexpectedly.
孟母三迁
Meng(4) Mu(3) San(1) Qian(1)
Mengzi’s Mother moved three times - From the story of Mengzi (a famous sage/Confucious disciple) whose mother moved house three times until she found a suitable location (next to a school for scholars) to raise a child. This is used to refer positively to motherly devotion/sacrifice for one’s children.
朝三暮四
Zhao San Mu Si
Story of feeding monkeys - promising them different amounts at 3 in the morning and 4 in the evening. Meaning flipped over time - now means someone who is inconstant in their plans/feelings.
