Chinese Idioms
Four-character idioms (known as "chengyu") are key ingredients of the Chinese language. I often find myself wanting to describe a situation or a feeling using Chinese idioms I've learned since I was little. And to have to translate or explaine them to my non-Chinese speaking friends is a tedious task since Chinese is very much a meaning based language system, where 4 simple characters together in combination can tell an entire story or historical reference, or even paint a beautiful scenic picture.
I found this site that tries to condense each idiom into a 1-2 sentence explanation, but I have yet to find a site that tells the stories behind the idioms or where they came from. Just like the way I learned them when I was little, intead of bedtime stories of the Green brothers, my mom would some times just tell me a story behind a certain idiom. Given that there are hundreds and thousands of them, I had a very "colorful" childhood. =)
I found this site that tries to condense each idiom into a 1-2 sentence explanation, but I have yet to find a site that tells the stories behind the idioms or where they came from. Just like the way I learned them when I was little, intead of bedtime stories of the Green brothers, my mom would some times just tell me a story behind a certain idiom. Given that there are hundreds and thousands of them, I had a very "colorful" childhood. =)
Labels: Chinese
-- posted by Pooh Bear @
9/26/2006 02:47:00 PM
3 Comments:
Hey that's a cool site! Maybe you can add in the background stories yourself?
I only know the story to mao dun.
mao dun: (Shield and Spear)
Someone was selling shield and spear in the market.
He first took up the shield and shouted: "This is the most well made shield, no weapon can ever penetrate this shield, so you are very well protected!"
Then he put down the shield and picked up the spear, and shouted to the crowd: "This is the sharpest spear you will find, it will pierce through anything!"
Then someone from the market called back: "Why don't you try to piece your shield with the spear and see what happens?!" =D
Mao Dun - contradiction, mutually exclusive situations.
http://www.xianzai.com/archives/category/chinese-idioms/
I like it a lot -- it does indeed give the stories.
You can even subscribe to their mailing list to have a new one sent to your email once a week... =)
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