San Guo related "Cheng Yu" (Sayings)

Po Hsing · Unread post by **Po Hsing** » Mon May 29, 2006 10:02 am

關公面前耍大刀 Swinging the halberd in front of Guan Yu. Someone that does not know his limitations.
過五關斬六將 Killing 6 generals over 5 passes. Success against great adversity.
雞肋: chicken tendon. stuck in the middle with no good choices.
周瑜打黃蓋: Chou Yu beating Huang Gai. Someone who is willing to suffer. i.e., dont interfere in peoples affairs.
刮骨療毒: [Guan Yu] Scraping the wound of poison. Fearless.

Edit: Thought of some more:

關羽放屁不知臉紅: Guang Yu bullshitting and doesn't knows his face is red. Someone that knows no shame.
單刀赴會: Carring only a sword to a meeting. Using airs to put down the opposition, can also mean bravery.
關帝廟求子: Praying for a son in front of Guan Yu's temple. Asking the wrong person for a favor.
阿斗: Ah Dou (Liu Zhan). someone who cannot be helped.
東吳招親: Wu looking a for a husband. Pretending becomes real.
蔣幹盜書: Jiang Gan stealing the plans. One who mistakenly thought he has gotten the better of the other, but in reality it is the other way around.
張飛使計謀: Zhang Fei devising a plan. 粗中有細 literally, Even the most unlikely person can surprise you.
黃忠出陣: Huang Zhong coming out fighting. Someone who insists that he is not old and can still do the task.
董卓進京: Dong Zhuo entering the capital. One who has ill intentions.
董卓戲貂蟬: Dong Zhuo playing with Diao Chan. Losing one's way to a beautiful through her charms.

I would actually venture to guess the San Guo is the richest source of chinese sayings...

Unread post by **Lady Wu** » Mon May 29, 2006 4:53 pm

Hah.

Also, related to the Huang Gai one:

一個願打，一個願挨 (One doesn't mind beating, the other doesn't mind suffering)

Unread post by **Shi Tong** » Tue May 30, 2006 12:09 pm

Excellent!

Po Hsing, can I add something to, 阿斗

I thought that the saying went (and I cant type Chinese on this PC, but you could help!): fo2 bo4 chi2 de' 阿斗- someone who has no hope of being helped.

Also, I thought that this really meant that even if someone great was to help you, you still would come to nothing- like being saved by Zhao Yun and raised by Liu Bei, yet still useless.. is that more accurate? Or did I get it wrong in the first place?!

Unread post by **Lady Wu** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:33 pm

It's funny that there are still *tons* of people who pray for a son in Lord Guan's temple, even though the act itself is already an idiom meaning "asking the wrong person for a favour".

Unread post by **Shi Tong** » Wed May 31, 2006 2:33 pm

Lady Wu, do people really pray to have children in Guan Gong temples?

I understand that you pray to different gods for different reasons (you may pray for good grades to one god and for a child to another).

I would be pretty sure that it's Guan Gong you would pray to particularly for protection or loyalty perpouses, not for a child? Right?

Yuan Seth · Unread post by **Yuan Seth** » Wed May 31, 2006 4:55 pm

I thought "Ah Dou" (阿斗) later became the Chinese byword for fool?

Unread post by **Shi Tong** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:26 pm

Seth, you're effectively right- and this is where the saying comes from. I dont know if it's just a Taiwanese thing, but people told me that they would say "fu bu chi de ah-dou" to mean someone who is completely useless, no matter what help they would recieve.

Actually the Taiwanese use a Japanese word for stupid (along with the usual "Ben4") which is "shou doh" which comes originally from English for "short" meaning you're short of wits.

Starscream · Unread post by **Starscream** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 3:06 pm

How can we ever forget this:

人中吕布，马中赤兔

Unread post by **Shi Tong** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:59 am

Starscream- what does it mean? I can read Ren2 Zhong1 and Ma3 Zhong1 but the other words I'm not so sure about- you're also using simplified which I understand even less!

Thanks

Unread post by **Sun Gongli** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:16 am

Well, aside from 呂 and 馬, all of the characters are the same in simplified and traditional. That's the famous saying about Lu Bu and Red Hare.