wǔ yán liù sè 五颜六色

wǔ yán liù sè 五颜六色

multi-colored; every color under the sun

wǔ = 5
yán = face
liù = 6
sè = color, look, appearance

yán sè = color

Originally the term 'color' (yán sè) referred to the color of a person's face before later being adapted to mean color in general.

刻舟求剑 Kè Zhōu Qiú Jiàn

In Chinese, there are many expressions to describe people who have got themselves into a rut, and who insist on strictly adhering to a precedent, even when it has been rendered obsolete by a change in circumstances.

One of the most vivid of these idioms is Kè Zhou Qiú Jiàn, literally meaning “to mark the boat to try to find the lost sword,” with “Zhou” being an old word for boat and “Jian” translating as “sword.”

The story behind this idiom, “Ke Zhou Qiu Jian,” is popular even among children who have just started their schooling, so we hope it’s popular with you too.

SHANSHAN: A man from the ancient State of Chu was carrying a sword while crossing a river on a ferryboat. When the ferry got to the middle of the river, the man was so intoxicated by the scenery that he forgot to take care of his much treasured sword, and with a slip of the hand, it dropped into the river. (the splash of water) He quickly took out a knife from his pocket and cut a mark on the gunwale of the boat.

“This is where my sword slipped overboard,” he murmured to himself, before stepping aside, much relieved.
The ferry sailed on and soon arrived at the dock on the opposite bank. As soon as the boat has anchored, the man jumped into the river at the point where he had made his mark.

“What is he doing?” His strange behavior puzzled his fellow passengers.

The man soon emerged from the water, commenting, “Strange. The sword dropped at the exact point where I marked the boat, so how come can’t I find it?”

Of course he failed to find his sword — The boat had moved far away from the point where he had originally dropped his sword.

From that fable comes the idiom Kè Zhou Qiú Jiàn.

The term is used to mock those who are sticklers for adhering to old models.

Things are constantly moving on, just like the boat in the story. Anyone who rigidly sticks to the old way of doing things may end up behaving as foolishly as the man who Kè Zhou Qiú Jiàn.

It also reminds me of a fashionable phrase that has quite the opposite meaning to "Ke Zhou Qiu Jian". The phrase is "Keep up with the times", a phrase which anybody living in fast-changing Beijing would do well to heed.

对牛弹琴 Duì Niú Tán Qín - To Play the Lute to an Ox

对牛弹琴 Duì Niú Tán Qín - To Play the Lute to an Ox

In ancient times, there lived a musician named Gong Mingyi. He was very good at playing the Zheng, a plucked string instrument. But he also behaved foolishly sometimes.

One day, he saw a cow grazing in the field near his house. He was inspired by the scene and ran outside to play a tune for the cow. "He must be interested in my music!" Gong Mingyi played beautifully and even he himself was intoxicated by the music.

Yet the cow paid no heed to these elegant sounds. (mouth sound) It simply focused its attention on eating the pleasant grass. "What's wrong with you, cow!" he yelled. Gong Mingyi was surprised to see this. He couldn't understand why the cow was so indifferent to his performance.

Was his performance boring? Not at all! The cow neither understood nor appreciated his elegant music!

From that story comes the idiom Duì Niú Tán Qín 对牛弹琴. Niu means Cow or bull, whereas Tan Qin, means to play a musical instrument.

(perhaps similar to: casting pearls before swine)

狐假虎威 - Hu2 jia3 hu3 wei1 - The fox borrows the tiger's terror

(Tiger's Fierceness Stolen by a Fox)

Once there was a Tiger (Hu) who caught a Fox (Hu). Just when the Tiger wanted to eat the Fox, the Fox started to laugh and said, 'How dare you? I am the king of the jungle!' The Tiger was baffled and replied, 'Who has heard of a Fox being the king of the jungle?' The Fox replied, 'If you don't believe me, follow me into the jungle. I will show you how all animals are afraid of me.' As the Tiger followed the Fox into the jungle, he was surprised to find that all the animals started to run for their lives. Actually, the animals ran from the Tiger instead of the Fox, but the Tiger did not know that. The Tiger apologized to the Fox and let him go free.

Applications: This phrase is often used to describe people who oppress others, using the authority of their superiors.

Relying on another’s power to bully or frighten others.

jī máo suàn pí 鸡毛蒜皮

鸡(jī) 毛(máo) 蒜(suàn) 皮(pí)
Chicken feathers and garlic skin

trivial matter / kitchen trash.

Refers to crowd gathering to watch something in the street such as an argument or small crash.

Both chicken feathers and garlic skin are the rubbish left when cooking a chicken. Being worthless, they attract little attention. The Chinese use the expression chicken feathers and garlic skin to describe something unimportant or worthless, which usually does not merit people’s attention. Sometimes the phrase also refers to something very boring or trivial.