Friday, August 24, 2012

Chinese Idiom Story 5

沉鱼落雁 (chén yú luò yàn)



In Chinese ancient history,there were four well-known beauties named Shi Shr (xī shī 西施),Wang Jau-jun (wāng zhāo jūn 王昭君),Diao chan (diāo chán 貂蝉),Yang yu-huan (yáng yù huán 杨玉环). Though they were not in the same period, their unforgettable beauties were universally acclaimed by the later generations.

Shi Shr lived in the state of Yue (yuè 越国),during the Spring and autum period (春秋 chūn qiū,770 - 221BC). One day,she and a group of her femal friends went to a nearby river to wash yarn. The sky was blue,the water was extremly crystal that they could see flocks of fish swimming in the water here and there cheerfully. The fish ,too,could see the girls very clearly. Suddenly ,all of the fish began to swim swiftly downward to the bottom of the water,being shocked by the unparalleled beauty of Shi Shr and feeling ashamed themselves. Before long ,the interesting story were diffused and known by most civillians around the country. They therefore gave Shi Shr a nickname ‘The girl makes the fish sink’ ,demonstrating how beautiful she was.

Wang Jau-jun was another beauty lived during Han dynasty (hàn cháo 汉朝, 202BC - 220AD). The king of Han was obsessed by the potential war between Han and one enemy coutry,intending to find a reconciliation. In the end,he came up with an idea—send Wang Jau-jun as a gift to the king of the enemy courty so as to avoid the direct conflict.A few days later,Wang Jau-jun and a group of guards set off to the enemy courty. One day, on their way to the distant north country, there was a wild goose flying above the head of wang jau-jun. It was so appalled by the beauty of wang that it even forgot to flap wings,then fell down heavily into the forest.
 Nowaday,if a girl’s beauty is overwhelming,we can say she is the one that‘can make the fish sink and the wild goose fall’.


Ref: http://www.foreignercn.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2497:chen-y-luo-yan&catid=3:chinese-idiom-a-proverbs&Itemid=115

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