Chinese idioms about foolishness
Sayings that show the pitfalls of being foolish.
亡羊补牢 [亡羊補牢]
Mend the pen after the sheep are lost
Can mean taking action too late or else taking action to protect against a future repeat of misfortune.
Roughly equivalent to: Mending the stable door after the horse has bolted.
打草惊蛇 [打草驚蛇]
Striking the grass alerts the snake
It is unwise to alert an enemy of your presence.
Roughly equivalent to: Let sleeping dogs lie.
九牛一毛
Nine cows are missing just one hair
An insignificant amount. A trivial matter.
Roughly equivalent to: A drop in the ocean.
饮鸠止渴 [㱃鳩止渴]
To quench one's thirst with poisoned wine. The blood of the dove was considered poisonous
To take reckless action regardless of the consequences.
Roughly equivalent to: Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
黄粱美梦 [黃粱美夢]
A golden millet dream
A fanciful day dream. The story is of a man who took a brief nap while his host was cooking a bowl of millet. He dreamed of becoming married to a beautiful wife and immensely rich and living to a great age. When he woke up the millet was cooked but he found he was still poor.
Roughly equivalent to: Cloud cuckoo land.
金玉其外，败絮其中 [金玉其外，敗絮其中]
Precious on the outside but shabby on the inside
Don't be fooled by outward appearances.
Roughly equivalent to: Beauty is only skin deep.
掩耳盗铃 [掩耳盜鈴]
Covering your ears while stealing the bell
Failing to think things through. Taking a rash action without applying logic. A foolish plan.
Roughly equivalent to: Stupid is as stupid does.
避坑落井
Avoid falling into a pit to fall into a well
Avoid one obstacle only to hit another.
州官放火
The magistrate burns down the town
Bewailing pompous and incompetent officials. The story is that an official who did not want his name 'Deng' to be used in any official proclamation. The problem arose when the Lantern or 'Deng' festival was to be announced. Instead of 'Deng' he used the character for Fire instead and so announced the coming of Fire throughout the town - causing widespread alarm.
Roughly equivalent to: Couldn't organize a piss-up in a brewey.
破釜沉舟
Smash the pots and sink the boats
A story ➚ at the fall of the Qin dynasty 207BCE tells of the general Xiang Yu who refused to accept possibility of retreat at the battle of Julu by burning the boats and smashing the cooking pots. So it means no going back whatever happens. Cutting off all possibility of retreat.
Roughly equivalent to: Burning your boats.
鼠目寸光
A mouse's vision is only one inch long
Looking ahead for only a short time. Only planning for the immediate future.
井底之蛙
A blinkered approach to life. Living in a fantasy world.
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, and can only see a small portion of the sky.
Roughly equivalent to: Little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
望梅止渴
Gaze at a plum to quench thirst
Offering hope by thinking of something currently out of reach.
换汤不换药 [換湯不換葯]
Change the soup but not the medicine
Not getting to the root of a problem, making superficial changes.
Roughly equivalent to: Rearranging the deckchairs while the ship is sinking.
两败俱伤 [兩敗俱傷]
Both sides will suffer
Heading towards a Pyrric victory - neither side wins. A conflict neither side can win.
Roughly equivalent to: Mutually assured destruction.
徙宅忘妻
Move house but overlook wife
Foolish and forgetful. Move to a new house and take everything - except your partner.
Roughly equivalent to: Soft in the head.
对牛弹琴 [對牛彈琴]
To play a lute to a cow
Wasting your time on pointless efforts. The 'lute' in this case is the qin, a traditional musical instrument. To address an inappropriate and unappreciative audience. A story from the Han dynasty when Mouzi Lihuolun, a Confucian scholar, who failed to describe Buddhist teaching because his audience had no basic understanding of it.
Roughly equivalent to: Pearls before swine.
削足适履
Reshape feet to fit new shoes
Take the wrong decision. Apply an inappropriate solution.
缘木求鱼 [緣木求魚]
To catch fish in a tree
To look at a tree hoping it will somehow catch fish. Waste time doing something pointless and bound to fail. The tale goes back 2,300 years to the life of Mengciuswho advised the King of Qi against pointless further conquests.
Roughly equivalent to: To carry water in a sieve.
坐井观天 [坐井觀天]
To sit at the bottom of a well and view the sky
A blinkered or limited view of the world.
画蛇添足 [畫蛇添足]
Drawing a foot on a snake
Ruin by over working something. Add superfluous detail. Too meticulous.
Roughly equivalent to: Gilding the lily.
一犬吠影,白犬吠声 [一犬吠影白犬吠聲]
One dog snarls at a shadow; a hundred howl at each other's barking
Blindly follow a trend without even knowing its origin.
画饼充饥 [畫餅充飢]
Drawing a biscuit to satisfy hunger
To act foolishly and ineffectively. Wasting time on fruitless projects.
Roughly equivalent to: Soft in the head.
作法自毙 [作法自斃]
Making laws that harm yourself
To fall foul of rules of your own making.
隔靴搔痒
Scratching an itch from outside of the shoe
An ineffective solution to a problem.
凤毛麟角 [鳳毛麟角]
As rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns
Seeking the unobtainable.
养虎遗患 [養虎遺患]
Helping a tiger invites misfortune
Being too softhearted with an enemy who is bound at some time later to bite the hand that fed it.
Roughly equivalent to: Rearing a nest of vipers.
守株待兔
Watching a tree waiting for rabbits
Do not just count on luck, need action to reach your goals.
Roughly equivalent to: Nothing ventured nothing gained.
口是心非
Say yes when mean no
To say the opposite of what you really think.
种瓜得瓜种豆得豆 [種瓜得瓜種豆得豆]
Plant melons and you will harvest melons; plant beans and you will harvest beans
Live with the consequences of your actions.
Roughly equivalent to: Reap what you sow.
与狐谋皮 [與狐謀皮]
Asking a fox for its skin
Make an unrealistic request of someone who is bound to refuse. A pointless request requiring someone to act against their normal character.
Roughly equivalent to: The leopard does not change his spots.
以卵击石 [以卵擊石]
Try to smash a stone with an egg
Overrating strength and being defeated. Defeat guaranteed.
Roughly equivalent to: Kicking a brick wall.
谈虎色变 [談虎色變]
Turning pale at the mere mention of a tiger
To be so timid that even mentioning danger causes fear.
Roughly equivalent to: Afraid of your own shadow.
殃及池鱼 [殃及池魚]
Calamity has spread to the fish in the pond
Suffering collateral damage. Draining a fish pond to search for some treasure would kill off all the fish as a consequence. An action that creates unintended victims.
Roughly equivalent to: Cannon fodder.
焚林而畋,竭泽而渔 [焚林而畋竭澤而漁]
Burn a forest to farm; drain a pond to fish
Ignoring the consequences.
Roughly equivalent to: Marry in haste, repent at leisure.
无源之水,无本之木 [無源之水無本之木]
A river without a source, a tree without roots
Something without a proper foundation. Not properly planned.
邯郸学步 [邯鄲學步]
Trying too hard to impress
Learning how the residents of Handan walk ➚. The story is of a man back in the Warring States period who took on the gait of grand city folk trying to impress but could no longer walk properly. Pompous and pretentious.
Roughly equivalent to: Make an ass of yourself.
肉包子打狗
Hitting a dog with a meat bun
To use a self defeating method to solve a problem.
虎口拔牙
To extract a tooth from a tiger's mouth
To be very daring and/or to take unnecessary risks.
驴唇不对马嘴 [馿唇不對馬嘴]
Donkey's lips do not fit a horse's mouth
Something that is out of place and inappropriate.
也要马儿好,也要马儿不吃草 [也要馬兒好也要馬兒不吃草]
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.
Roughly equivalent to: You can't have your cake and eat it.
飞蛾投火 [飛蛾投火]
A moth throws itself into a flame
Heading for self destruction.
Roughly equivalent to: Like a moth to a flame.
空中楼阁 [空中樓閣]
A pavilion in the air
A fanciful and impossible scheme. An impractical idea with a streak of vanity.
Roughly equivalent to: A flight of fancy.
东施效颦 [東施效顰]
Ludicrous self conceit
The story is of Dong Shi, an ugly person imitating the posture of famous beautiful woman Xi Shi ➚ by knitting his eyebrows.
Roughly equivalent to: Mutton dressed as lamb.
请君入瓮 [請君入甕]
Please step into the vat
To fall victim to a punishment that you yourself devised. The story is from the reign of Empress Wuzetian when two cruel ministers vied to create the vilest tortures. Zhou Ying suggested a large vat should be heated and the victim placed in it. His fellow minister threatened to apply the torture on Zhou Ying himself. He then confessed to all his crimes.
Roughly equivalent to: To give someone a taste of their own medicine.
纸上谈兵 [帋上談兵]
Fighting war on paper
An armchair general. Making plans without knowledge of the actualité
Roughly equivalent to: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
羊质虎皮 [羊質虎皮]
A goat in a tiger's skin
Someone not living up to outward appearance. Looking fierce but actually timid.
Roughly equivalent to: All that glisters is not gold.
临渴掘井 [臨渴掘井]
Digging a well only when starting to feel thirsty
Begin taking action when it is far too late.
Roughly equivalent to: Failing to plan is planning to fail.
虾兵蟹将 [蝦兵蟹將]
Shrimp soldiers led by a crab general. An ineffective army
A laughably ineffective solution to a problem.
事实胜于雄辩 [事實勝于雄辯]
A real victory is better than a great debate
Better to act than just talk about it.
Roughly equivalent to: Actions speak louder than words.
抱薪救火
Using wood to put out a fire
Not choosing an appropriate solution to a problem. Making matters worse.
自相矛盾
Hit your shield with your own spear
To speak in contradictions. 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.
食言而肥
Getting fat by eating one's words
Someone is forever retracting what was previously said. Someone with poor judgment and a big mouth. The story is of a minister Meng Wubo of the kingdom of Lu who often pontificated only to contradict himself. A snide commentator suggested that Meng was growing fat because he ate so many of his own words.
Roughly equivalent to: Shoot your mouth off.
班门弄斧 [班門弄斧]
Demonstrating the axe at Ban's door
Lu Ban (c. 500BCE) was a master engineer inventor and carpenter. So trying to show off you skills with an axe (or adze in those days) at his door was being rather pretentious. So the phrase means to show off your feeble skills in front of a real expert.
Roughly equivalent to: Teaching your grandmother to suck eggs.
雷声大,雨点小 [雷聲大雨點小]
Thunder is loud but little rain falls
Overly portentous. Reality does not match expectations.
Roughly equivalent to: Empty vessels make the most noise.
赔了夫人又折兵 [賠了夫人又折兵]
Losing the lady and the soldiers
Hatching an evil plot that backfires spectacularly. The story is that Sun Quan in the Three Kingdoms period wanted to take territory from the Shu kingdom. He offered his sister's hand in marriage but secretly plotted to attack Liu Bei's troops at the ceremony. Master strategist Zhuge Liang saw through the trap and Liu Bei managed to marry Sun's sister as well as defeat Sun's troops.
刻舟求剑 [刻舟求劍]
Marking the boat to locate a sunken sword
A venture made pointless by changing circumstances. The story is of a man who accidentally dropped a sword in the lake while being ferried across it. He reasoned that if he made a notch in the side of the boat that would let him find the sword again,
Roughly equivalent to: Wild goose chase.
玩物丧志 [玩物喪志]
Obsessional play ruins the will
Spending too much time on trivia. Excessive attention to detail. Losing the big picture.
Roughly equivalent to: Little things please little minds.
干活不由东累死也无功 [干活不由東累死也無功]
Working without obeying the boss will bring only hard work and no merit
Only work on what is needed to be done.
夜郎自大
Ye Lang thinks highly of himself
Pompous and conceited. The story is of the king of Ye Lang a tiny country in south-western China who in Han dynasty times considered himself the equal of the Emperor of China.
Roughly equivalent to: As proud as a peacock.
精卫填海 [精衛填海]
Jingwei tries to fill up the ocean
Even the mythical bird Jing Wei will be unable to fill the oceans with pebbles. Facing a Herculean task. Determined against impossible odds. The story is of Jing Wei who was the daughter of Emperor Yan. A great typhoon came and killed her and she was then transformed into a bird. In revenge for her early death she determined to fill up the ocean by filling it with pebbles one by one.
Roughly equivalent to: A forlorn hope.
死马当活马医 [死馬噹活馬醫]
Treating a dead horse as if it is still alive
Persevering when it is already too late. A lost cause.
Roughly equivalent to: Flogging a dead horse.
看风使舵 [看風使舵]
Steer the boat wherever the winds lead
Not sticking to the big plan. A fickle mind.
大手大脚 [大手大腳]
Large hands and feet
Lavish and grandiose expenditure on tasteless trifles.
Roughly equivalent to: A fool and his money are soon parted.
朝三暮四
Say three in the morning, four in the evening
Indecisive saying one thing and then changing mind later and saying another. The story is of a monkey trainer who reduced their chestnut rations from 3 in the morning and 4 in the evenings. The monkeys were most unhappy but when the trainer changed it to 4 in the morning and 3 in the evenings they were delighted. And so the phrase can also mean being foolishly deceived.
Roughly equivalent to: Hemming and hahing.
生吞活剥 [生吞活剝]
Swallowing it all
To unthinkingly take on board someone's opinion. Uncritical application. Copying someone else's actions. The story is of Zhang Huaiqing of the Tang dynasty who plagiarized other poet's work by mechanically adding a few characters here and there. The resultant poems were gibberish.
Roughly equivalent to: Monkey see: monkey do.
漏洞百出
Leaking through one hundred holes
Full of mistakes and errors.
骑驴找驴 [騎馿找馿]
Looking for a donkey while sitting on its back
Ignoring the obvious. Absent mindedness.
Roughly equivalent to: Not looking beyond your nose.
买椟还珠 [買櫝還珠]
Buy the box yet return the pearls inside
To make a foolish action - the pearls were worth far more than the box. Missing the main opportunity.
Roughly equivalent to: Penny wise, pound foolish.
竭泽而渔 [竭澤而漁]
Drain the pond to harvest the fish
Choose short-term gain for long-term sorrow. Not planning for the long term. Short-termism. Similar to burning down a forest to capture wild animals - unsustainable.
Roughly equivalent to: Kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
夏虫疑冰 [夏蟲疑冰]
The summer insect doubts the existence of ice
An ignorant person doesn't understand the wider truth.
杯弓蛇影
Seeing a bow's reflection in a cup as a snake
Suspicious and frightened; plagued by fearful imagination. The story is of a man who was terrified by the sight of what he thought was a snake swimming in the cup of tea he was drinking. The experience made him ill and only when it was demonstrated that it was just the reflection of a bow left hanging on the wall did he recover.
Roughly equivalent to: Afraid of your own shadow.
郑人争年 [鄭人爭年]
Zheng men argue over their age
A futile quarrel over a trifling matter. The story is of two men from the state of Zheng arguing endlessly and furiously as to who was born first.
Roughly equivalent to: Apropos of nothing.
画虎类犬 [畫虎類犬]
A drawing of a tiger that looks like a dog
Foolishly undertaking something over-ambitious and coming a cropper. Taking on something beyond your ability. Puffed up with self-conceit.
Roughly equivalent to: The pride of the peacock.
牛鼎烹鸡 [牛鼎烹雞]
Cooking a chicken in a pot designed for an ox
An in appropriate tool or scale of preparation for a job. Also refers to when a person of great skill is given a menial job.
数典忘祖 [數典忘祖]
Recounting history but forgeting ancestors
Lose connection with ancestors - lose one's roots. Ignorance of own origins or country.
螳臂当车 [螳臂當車]
Mantis obstructing a chariot
Overrate abilities and attempt the impossible. A mantis is a fearsome insect that does not back down even if faced with a much larger predator. So it means someone full of pride making an idle threat.
杯水车薪 [杯水車薪]
A glass of water won't put out a car on fire
Not putting in enough effort to solve a problem.
曾参杀人 [曾參殺人]
Zeng Shen committed murder
A false rumor. The story is that the mother of Zeng Shen was weaving cloth. Someone came in to tell her that her son had been found guilty of murder. She did not believe it saying he would not do such a thing. Another person came with the same report and she still would not believe it. Only when the third person gave the same story did she reacted and stopped her work. The story was in fact of another man called 'Zeng Shen' and not her son.
Roughly equivalent to: The word on the street.
管中窥豹 [管中窺豹]
View a leopard through a tube
A narrow-minded view of something. Not seeing the full picture.
Roughly equivalent to: Cant see the wood for the trees.
开门揖盗 [開門揖盜]
Opening the door and welcoming in the thief
To welcome a thief or bandit into your home. Bringing disaster upon yourself by your own foolish actions.
多行不义必自毙 [多行不義必自斃]
Persisting in evil leads to self-destruction
Turning to bad deeds will ultimately bring ruin. This is a form of Karma - divine justice which catch up with you one day.
贪小失大 [貪小失大]
Coveting small gains and incurring great losses
Paying attention to the unimportant details not the big picture. Concentration on trivia.
Roughly equivalent to: Penny wise, pound foolish.
割肉自啖
Eating one's own flesh
A foolish, self defeating stratagem.
Roughly equivalent to: Cutting off your nose to spite your face.
眼泪救不了火 [眼淚救不了火]
Tears do not put out the fire
Decisive action is needed in a crisis not regrets.
仰人鼻息
Depend on someone, even for breathe
To be totally dependent on others, as if unable to breathe without their help. Showing great weakness.
Roughly equivalent to: Wet fish.
想入非非
Indulge in fantasy
Let imagination run wild.
Roughly equivalent to: Head in the clouds.
至死不悟
Failing to understand even to death
Stubbornly holding to views. Obstinate and set in ways.
Roughly equivalent to: As stubborn as a mule.
煽风点火 [煽風點火]
Create wind and fire
Create a lot of trouble.
齐人擢金 [齊人擢金]
The gold grabber from Qi
Blinded by lust for gain. Greed. Avarice. Blinded by ambition. The story if of a man from the kingdom of Qi who seeing gold just grabbed it and ran off, oblivious of the consequences.
Roughly equivalent to: Blind ambition.
小题大作 [小題大作]
To talk a lot about very little
Procrastination and exaggeration.
Roughly equivalent to: Make a mountain out of a molehill.
此地无银三百两 [此地無銀三百兩]
Three hundred silver taels are not buried here
Accidentally giving away the hidden truth in an explanation. The story is of a man who buried 300 pieces of stolen silver. Strangely he put up a sign to say that the 300 pieces were not buried on top of his horde. Someone a little more clever dug up the cash and replaced the sign to say he had not dug up the cash buried there.
妄自尊大
Having an inflated opinion of oneself
Full of inflated pride. There are many examples throughout history of people thinking rather too highly of themselves.
Roughly equivalent to: Pride comes before a fall.
杀鸡焉用牛刀 [殺雞焉用牛刀]
Using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken
Taking unnecessary effort to tackle a small problem. Using an inappropriately large tool for the job.
Roughly equivalent to: Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
屠龙之技 [屠龍之技]
Skilled in killing dragons
Possessing a useless skill. Pointless training to achieve something of no value. Wasting time and effort.
以郑为壑 [以鄭爲壑]
Building a drain onto neighbor's land
Diverting flood water onto neighbor's land - moving a problem onto others rather than try to solve it. Acting selfishly.
Roughly equivalent to: Look out for number one.
趾高气扬 [趾高氣揚]
Putting on airs and graces
An arrogant person who may well face a comeuppance due to complacency and self-conceit.
Roughly equivalent to: Pride comes before a fall.
一窍不通 [一竅不通]
All parts of the body are not working together
Incoherent action, not making any sense.
前怕狼后怕虎
To fear wolves ahead and tigers behind
To be obsessed by fears of attack from all sides.
歧路亡羊
The sheep goes astray at the fork of a road
Taking a wrong decision and now hopelessly lost. Unable to work out a way forward because the true situation has not been appreciated,
倒绷孩儿 [倒繃孩兒]
Wrap up a baby upside down
Accidentally wrapping a new-born baby the wrong way round. Said of someone who though skilled can sometimes make mistakes. An occasional error out of character.
各自为政 [各自為政]
Each following his own policy
Acting selfishly. Following own plans and ideas with no regard for others.
吴牛喘月 [吳牛喘月]
The ox from Wu pants at the sight of the moon
Unnecessarily fearful of something. The story is of an ox from Wu that thought the moon was the sun and panted through the assumed heat it expected to experience.
Roughly equivalent to: Afraid of your own shadow.
有目共睹
Seen by everyone. There for all to see
Obvious to everybody.
Roughly equivalent to: Plain for all to see.
郑人买履 [鄭人買履]
The man from Zheng buys shoes
Stubbornly sticking to a silly plan; inflexible and stupid. The story is of a man from Zheng who measured his own feet in readiness to buying new shoes. When he reached the shop in a distant town he found he had forgotten the paper on which the measurement was recorded. So he walked all the way home to fetch it rather than just try on shoes in the shop.
Roughly equivalent to: Stupid is as stupid does.
招愮过市 [招愮過市]
Parading through the busy streets
Boastful behavior; to be puffed up with pride . Walking the streets seeking the adulation of the crowds.
Roughly equivalent to: Pride comes before a fall.
味如鸡肋 [味如雞肋]
As tasteless as chicken ribs
A humdrum, boring activity and by extension a person lacking character. Insipid, bland.
言过其实 [言過其實]
To embellish the facts
Overstate the facts or exaggerate skills. Someone who is a bit of a windbag.
闻风丧胆 [聞風喪膽]
Panic on hearing news
Panic stricken; terrified by news.
狗尾续貂 [狗尾續貂]
Use a dog's tail to replace a sable
A poor substitute for the original. Said of poor follow-up to promising earlier work. The story is of a usurper to the Jin dynasty throne who gave honors and titles to his whole family and household. There was insufficient sable tails to make the formal robes for all these people so dog tails were used instead.
得意洋洋
Smug and self-satisfied
To be very pleased with oneself. Giving an air of sublime complacency.
Roughly equivalent to: I'm all right Jack.
孤注一掷 [孤注一擲]
Stake all on a single throw
Taking desperate measures to try to save a situation. Gambling everything on a change of fortune.
Roughly equivalent to: Last throw of the dice.
舍本逐末 [捨本逐末]
Pursuing trivia while neglecting essentials
Concentrating on the little details rather than the important stuff.
Roughly equivalent to: Putting the cart before the horse.
知其然,不知其所以然
To know the how but not the why
Having a limited understanding of something. Only seeing half the problem.
痴人说梦 [痴人說夢]
A fool describing his dream
Talking irrelevant nonsense. Ravings of no possible interest.
Roughly equivalent to: A load of codswallop.
夸父追日
Kua Fu chasing the sun
Pride leading to attempting the impossible. Over confidence in skills. Over-arching ambition. The story is of a giant called Kua Fu who was immensely strong and swift. He attempted to chase the sun but in so doing became so hot he died from thirst that could not be quenched. A similar tale to Icarus flying too close to the sun.
Roughly equivalent to: Pride comes before a fall.
Our proverbs come with full information. The modern Chinese characters are given first with links that give information on the character. As proverbs are so old you will often see them written using the traditional form of characters; so if some of the characters have been simplified the traditional form is shown in brackets and gray text. The characters are followed by the proverb (Chengyu) 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 shown.
Our translations are in need of improvement, so please let us know your ideas. For background on the types and history of proverbs please see our guide.