Chinese Snake Idioms
Prof. Scarlet Leslie-Lewis
October 2020
Chinese idioms are phrases that are four characters in length. Similar to English idioms, the literal translations will not make much sense. The origin of the idioms typically involve historical stories. Here are three Chinese idioms that include snakes!
畫蛇添足
(huàshétiānzú)
To Draw a Snake and Add on Feet
In the kingdom of Chu during the Warring States period, a temple caretaker gave a pot of wine to all his servants. The pot was small, so if they shared the wine among everyone, each person would barely get a sip. They decided to create a competition and the winner would receive the entire bottle. The premise of the competition was to draw a snake in the dirt.
One competitor drew a snake very quickly and noticed that everyone else was still drawing. He bragged that he even had time to add feet to his snake because everyone else was so slow. While he was adding the feet to his snake, a second competitor finished drawing, grabbed the pot of wine, and said "Snakes don't have feet!" Hence "To Draw a Snake and Add on Feet" warns about overdoing a task or doing unnecessary extra work.
杯弓蛇影
(bēigōngshéyǐng)
To Mistake the Reflection of a Bow for a Snake
A man named Yue Guang sent someone to check on a friend who he hadn't seen for a few days. The friend said that the last time he was at Yue Guang's place, he saw a snake in his wine and has been sick ever since then. Yue Guang is confused and looks around the room. He realizes that the bow hanging on the wall was the cause of reflection in his friend's cup. It wasn't a snake at all! "To Mistake the Reflection of a Bow for a Snake" means to worry about a small or imaginary thing.
打草驚蛇
(dǎcǎojīngshé)
To Mow the Grass and Scare the Snake
Wang Lu was a magistrate during the Tang dynasty. He was selfish and didn't take care of his people. He only cared about making money. One day, the people Wang Lu oversaw filed a complaint against one of his subordinates. When Wang Lu read the report, he realized he did the same illegal things. He began sweating all over and was paralyzed with fear. The people intended to weed out someone close to the leader, but they ended up scaring the snake instead.
Sources:
http://www.cherriyuen.com/Idioms.php
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/360448-chinese-idioms-draw-a-snake-and-add-feet-to-it/
Chinese idioms are phrases that are four characters in length. Similar to English idioms, the literal translations will not make much sense. The origin of the idioms typically involve historical stories. Here are three Chinese idioms that include snakes!
畫蛇添足
(huàshétiānzú)
To Draw a Snake and Add on Feet
In the kingdom of Chu during the Warring States period, a temple caretaker gave a pot of wine to all his servants. The pot was small, so if they shared the wine among everyone, each person would barely get a sip. They decided to create a competition and the winner would receive the entire bottle. The premise of the competition was to draw a snake in the dirt.
One competitor drew a snake very quickly and noticed that everyone else was still drawing. He bragged that he even had time to add feet to his snake because everyone else was so slow. While he was adding the feet to his snake, a second competitor finished drawing, grabbed the pot of wine, and said "Snakes don't have feet!" Hence "To Draw a Snake and Add on Feet" warns about overdoing a task or doing unnecessary extra work.
杯弓蛇影
(bēigōngshéyǐng)
To Mistake the Reflection of a Bow for a Snake
A man named Yue Guang sent someone to check on a friend who he hadn't seen for a few days. The friend said that the last time he was at Yue Guang's place, he saw a snake in his wine and has been sick ever since then. Yue Guang is confused and looks around the room. He realizes that the bow hanging on the wall was the cause of reflection in his friend's cup. It wasn't a snake at all! "To Mistake the Reflection of a Bow for a Snake" means to worry about a small or imaginary thing.
打草驚蛇
(dǎcǎojīngshé)
To Mow the Grass and Scare the Snake
Wang Lu was a magistrate during the Tang dynasty. He was selfish and didn't take care of his people. He only cared about making money. One day, the people Wang Lu oversaw filed a complaint against one of his subordinates. When Wang Lu read the report, he realized he did the same illegal things. He began sweating all over and was paralyzed with fear. The people intended to weed out someone close to the leader, but they ended up scaring the snake instead.
Sources:
http://www.cherriyuen.com/Idioms.php
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/360448-chinese-idioms-draw-a-snake-and-add-feet-to-it/