Chinese allegories
歇后語(yǔ)
Two-part allegorical saying (of which the first part, always stated, is descriptive, while the second part, often unstated, carries the message)

y? ba chī ji?o zi – xīn l? y?u shù
啞巴吃餃子 – 心里有數(shù)
A dumb person eats dumplings. – (literally) He knows the number in his mind, although he cannot say it. Figuratively, it means somebody has a clear idea of the situation.

máng rén qí xiā m? – luàn chu?ng luàn pèng
盲人騎瞎馬 – 亂闖亂碰
A blind man on a blind horse – rushing headlong into disaster

tiào dào huáng hé x? bu qīng – yuān wang
跳到黃河洗不清 – 冤枉
Even if one jumped into the Yellow River, one could not wash oneself clean. – One is unjustly or unfairly treated.

guān gōng miàn qián shu? dà dāo – zì bù liàng lì
關(guān)公面前耍大刀 – 自不量力
To perform swordplay before an expert like Guan Yu, a general in the period of the Three Kingdoms – overestimate one's abilities; overestimate oneself

zh? l?o hǔ – wài qiáng zhōng gān
紙老虎 – 外強(qiáng)中干
Paper tiger – something or someone is outwardly strong but inwardly weak.

hǔ tóu shé w?i – y?u sh? wú zhōng
虎頭蛇尾 – 有始無(wú)終
With a tiger's head but a snake's tail – fine start and poor finish; to start something but fail to carry it through to the end.

qí lǘ zh?o lǘ – hūn tóu hūn n?o
騎驢找驢 – 昏頭昏腦
To look for the donkey while riding it – be muddle-headed

shēng m? zhǔ chéng shú fàn – g?i bù guò lái le
生米煮成熟飯 – 改不過(guò)來(lái)了
The rice is cooked. – What is done cannot be undone; it can't be helped.

View all lessons >>