Chinese proverbs about foolishness
Proverbs that demonstrate foolishness and stupidity.
抱薪救火
hold firewood rescue fire
Holding wood while putting out a fire
Not solving a problem appropriately. Foolishness
How to write Chinese characters
Language
Many Chinese spend a great deal of time studying calligraphy. To be able to write (or more accurately draw) Chinese characters requires lots of practise as well as knowing both the brush strokes and the order in which to make them.杯水车薪
cup water vehicle firewood
A glass of water won't put out a car on fire
Put in insufficient effort into solving a problem
避坑落井
evade pit drop well
Avoid falling into a pit to fall into a well
Avoid one obstacle only to blindly hit another
打草惊蛇
strike grass startled snake
Striking the grass alerts the snake
Unwisely alerting an enemy
大手大脚
big hand big foot
Large hands and feet
Lavish and grandiose expenditure on tasteless trifles
A fool and his money are soon parted
东施效颦
Dong Shi imitate knit eyebrows
The story is of Dong Shi, an ugly person imitating the posture of famous beautiful woman Xi Shi ➚ by knitting his eyebrows
Ludicrous self-conceit
对牛弹琴
face ox play musical qin
To play a qin (a traditional Chinese musical instrument) to a cow
To address an inappropriate and unappreciative audience
Pearls before swine
飞蛾投火
fly moth hurl fire
A moth throws itself into a flame
Heading for self destruction
焚林而畋,竭泽而渔
burn forest but cultivate, exhaust pool but fishing
Burn a forest to farm; drain a pond to fish
Ignore the obvious consequences
Marry in haste, repent at leisure
凤毛麟角
phoenix hair unicorn horn
As rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns
Seeking the unobtainable
干活不由东累死也无功
do live no reason master pile up die also no merit
Working without obeying the boss will bring only hard work and no merit
Only work on what is needed to be done
隔靴搔痒
separate boot scratch itch
Scratching an itch from outside of the shoe
An ineffective solution to a problem
邯郸学步
Handan study gait
Learning how the residents of Handan walk ➚. A story of a man who took on the gait of a cityfolk trying to impress but could no longer walk properly
Pompous and pretentious. Trying too hard to impress
虎口拔牙
tiger mouth pull up tooth
To extract a tooth from a tiger's mouth
To be very daring and/or to take unnecessary risks
画饼充饥
draw biscuit fill hunger
Drawing a biscuit to satisfy hunger
To make a foolish and ineffective attempt
画蛇添足
draw snake add foot
Drawing a foot on a snake
Ruin by over doing something. Too meticulous
Gild the lily
换汤不换药
change hot water no change medicine
Change the soup but not the medicine
Not getting to the root of a problem, making superficial changes
Rearranging the deckchairs while the ship is sinking
井底之蛙
well bottom's frog
A frog in a well. The story is of a frog that only knows of the water in the well and knew nothing of the sea.
A blinkered approach to life. Living in own private world ignoring the real world
九牛一毛
nine ox one hair
Nine cows are missing just one hair
An insignificant amount. A trivial matter.
A drop in the ocean
Lanzhou with Yellow River seen from seen from Tianshui Road Bridge Photo by RThiele ➚, available under a Creative Commons license ➚.
看风使舵
look wind steer rudder
Steer the boat wherever the winds lead
Not sticking to the big plan. A fickle mind
口是心非
mouth OK feeling wrong
Say yes when mean no
To say the opposite of what you really think
雷声大,雨点小
thunder sound big, rain drop small
Thunder is loud but little rain falls
Overly portentous. Reality did not match expectation
Empty vessels make the most noise
Imperious Dragons
With the dragon dance and the dragon boat festival the Chinese dragon is still a common sight in China. Considered well-intentioned and not evil the dragons that control the rains have been the most important animal in Chinese symbolism for thousands of years.Read More
临渴掘井
approach thirsty dig well
To start digging a well only when feeling thirsty
Begin to take measures when it is far too late
Failing to plan is planning to fail
漏洞百出
leak hole hundred get out
Leaking through one hundred holes. Full of holes
Full of mistakes and errors
驴唇不对马嘴
donkey lips no match horse mouth
Donkey's lips do not fit a horse's mouth
Something that is out of place and inappropriate
牛鼎烹鸡
ox cauldron boil chicken
Cooking a chicken in a pot designed for an ox
Inappropriate scale for action. A minor event does not require such large preparation
破釜沉舟
broken pot sink boat
Smash the pots and sink the boats. A story ➚ from the Qin dynasty tells of a general who refused to accept possibility of retreat by burning the boats and smashing the cooking pots.
No going back whatever happens. Cutting off all possibility of retreat
Don't burn your bridges behind you
骑驴找驴
ride donkey look for donkey
Looking for a donkey while sitting on its back
Ignoring the obvious. Absent mindedness
Not looking beyond your nose
前怕狼后怕虎
before fear wolf behind fear tiger
To fear wolves ahead and tigers behind
To be obsessed by fears of attack from all sides
肉包子打狗
meat wrap child hit dog
Hitting a dog with a meat bun
To use a self defeating method to solve a problem
煽风点火
incite wind spot fire
Create wind and fire
Create a lot of trouble
事实胜于雄辩
affair real victory goto mighty debate
A real victory is better than a great debate
Better to act than just talk about it
Actions speak louder than words
守株待兔
guard trunk wait for hare
Keeps watching a tree waiting for rabbits
Counts on luck rather than action to reach goals. Laziness and inaction
Ignorance is bliss
鼠目寸光
mouse eye inch bright
A mouse's vision is only one inch long
Looking ahead for only a short time. Only planning for the immediate future.
死马当活马医
die horse equal live horse doctor
Treating a dead horse as if it is still alive
Persevering when it is already too late. A lost cause.
Flogging a dead horse
望梅止渴
gaze plum stop thirst
Gaze at a plum to quench thirst
Vain hope for something unattainable
亡羊补牢
lose sheep mend pen
Mend the pen after the sheep are lost
Can mean taking action too late or to protect against a future repeat of misfortune
Mend the stable door after the horse has bolted
闻风丧胆
hear news lose courage
On hearing news panic. Terror stricken by the news
Panic stricken. Terrified by news
Bronze temple door knobs
无源之水,无本之木
no source water, no root tree
A river without a source, a tree without roots
Something without a proper foundation. Not properly planned
虾兵蟹将
shrimp soldier crab general
Shrimp soldiers led by a crab general. An ineffective army
A laughably ineffective solution to a problem
夏虫疑冰
summer insect doubt ice
The summer insect doubts the existence of ice
An ignorant person doesn't understand the whole truth
想入非非
want enter wrong wrong
Indulge in fantasy
Let imagination run wild
Head in the clouds
小题大作
small topic large work
To talk a lot about very little
Procrastination and exaggeration
Make a mountain out of a molehill
削足适履
trim foot fit shoe
Reshape feet to fit new shoes
Take the wrong decision. Apply an inappropriate solution.
Proverb
兔死狐悲
hare die fox sorrow
A fox mourns the death of a rabbit
Showing false grief to conceal true feeling
To weep crocodile tears
掩耳盗铃
conceal ear steal bell
Covering your ears while stealing the bell
Failing to think things through. Taking a rash action without applying logic
Stupid is as stupid does
眼泪救不了火
tears rescued not fire
Tears do not put out the fire
Decisive action is needed in a crisis not regrets
也要马儿好,也要马儿不吃草
also want horse good, also want horse not eat grass
Want the horse to prosper, but not want the horse to eat grass
To prosper you must make compromises, you can not have it all your own way
You can't have your cake and eat it
以卵击石
use egg strike stone
Try to smash a stone with an egg
Overrate strength and be defeated. An ill-judged contest
一窍不通
all orifice not linked up
All parts of the body are not working together
Incoherent action, not making any sense
一犬吠影,白犬吠声
one dog bark shadow, one hundred dog bark noise
One dog snarls at a shadow; a hundred howl at each other's barking
Blindly follow a trend without even knowing its origin
饮鸠止渴
drink turtledove stop thirst
To quench one's thirst with poisoned wine. The blood of the dove was considered poisonous
To take reckless action regardless of the consequences
Don't cut off your nose to spite your face
有目共睹
has eye common observe
Seen by everyone. There for all to see
Obvious to everybody
Plain for all to see
缘木求鱼
cause tree seek fish
To catch fish on a tree. To look at a tree hoping it will catch fish.
Waste time doing something pointless and bound to fail
纸上谈兵
paper on chat weapon
Talk about battle strategy. An armchair general.
Making theoretical plans ignoring practical considerations
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
种瓜得瓜种豆得豆
plant melon get melon, plant beans get beans
Plant melons and you will harvest melons; plant beans and you will harvest beans
Live with the consequences of your actions
Reap what you sow
自相矛盾
self mutual contradict
Self contradictory. The story ➚ is about the man who said he had a spear that could pierce anything in the world, but also a shield that was impenetrable to any spear. Both claims could not be true.
To speak in contradictions
坐井观天
sit well watch sky
To sit at the bottom of a well and view the sky
A blinkered or limited view of the world
Our proverbs come with lots of information. The modern Chinese characters are followed by the proverb in pinyin. Next, there is a crude character by character transliteration into English, followed by a more accurate English translation. If this is a Chinese proverb alluding to history the meaning may still not be clear in English, so the general meaning follows. Finally some proverbs have fairly direct English equivalents, if so the English proverb is included at the end.
Our translations need improving, so please let us know if you can help.
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Citation information: Chinasage, 'Chinese Proverbs about fooling around', last updated 30 Nov 2016, Web, http://www.chinasage.info/proverbfool.htm.
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