An amazing dictionary that I bought is the "Pocket Mandarin Chinese Dictionary." It has both Chinese-English and English-Chinese. It contains the 3,000 most commonly used words in the language, which I find useful because it allows you to focus on the foundations of the language and essential vocabulary. Usually, if I want to say something and I don't know how, the word will be in this dictionary. Rarely do I need to use words that are not in this book.  Check it out!

Jordan

Looking for a Steed with the Aid Of Its Picture (按图索骥 àn tú suǒ jì)


按图索骥Looking for a Steed with the Aid Of Its Picture

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a man in the State of Qin whose name was Sun Yang. Sun Yang was very expert in looking at horses and judging their worth. Whatever the horse might be, he could tell whether it was good or bad at first sight. People called him Bo Le (Bo Le was the name of one of the celestial bodies and was fabled to be in charge of heavenly steeds), and he was often asked to appraise and select horses.

One day, when Sun Yang was passing a place, an old horse pulling a cart loaded with salt suddenly neighed to him without stopping. He came near, and saw that it was a horse that really could cover a thousand Li a day, and that the only problem with it was that it was a little too old. The old horse was pulling the heavy cart with difficulties and hardships. Sun Yang felt acutely that the horse was really unjustly treated, for it might have been a fine steed galloping on the battlefield. It was a great pity that it was pulling the cart loaded with salt without attracting public attention, which had taken the edge off its spirit and consumed its energy. When he thought of this, he was so grieved that he shed tears.

In order to help more people learn how to appraise horses so that fine horses which could cover a thousand LI a day would no longer fall into oblivion, and also in order to ensure that his unique skill in judging horses would not be lost, Sun Yang worte a book entitled The Art of Looking at Horses and Judging Their Worth, based on his experiences and knowledge accumulated over the years. The book was also illustrated with the pictures of various horses.

Sun Yang had a son who, after reading his father's The Art of Looking at Horses and Judging Their Worth, thought it was very easy to appraise horses. So he took the book with him to look for fine horses everywhere.

At first he searched according to the pictures in the book, and accomplished nothing.

Then he searched according to the characteristics of the horses in the book.  And he discovered that a toad would match the descriptions.  Because a toad fit very well the characteristics described in the book.

So he happily took the toad back home, and said to his father, "Father, I have found a horse that can cover a thousand Li a day, only its hoofs are not good enough." Looking at the toad, Sun Yang did not know whether he should laugh or cry. Knowing that his son was stupid, Sun Yang said humourously. "It's a pity that this horse is too fond of jumping to pull a cart." Then he sighed, "That is just what we call looking for a steed with the aid of its picture."

Later, people have used the set phrase "look for a steed with the aid of its picture" to refer to handling affairs mechanically in the outmoded ways without being flexible. Somethimes it is also used to refer to trying to locate something by following up a clue. This set phrase originates in Lumbering in the Forest of Art written by Yang Shen in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

an4     tu2     Suo3     ji4
按     图     索     骥

 

春秋时候,秦国有个叫孙阳的人,擅长相马,无论什么样的马,他一眼就能分出优劣.他常常被人请去识马、选马,人们都称他为伯乐("伯乐"本是天上的星名,据说负责管理天马).

有一次,孙阳路过一个地方,忽见一匹拖着盐车的老马冲他叫个不停,走近一看,原来是匹千里马,只是年龄稍大了点.老马拉着车艰难地走着,孙阳觉得太委屈了这匹千里马,它本是可以奔跑于疆场,可以发挥更大作用的宝马良驹,现在却默默无闻地拖着盐车,慢慢地消耗着它的锐气和体力,实在可惜!孙阳想到这里,难过得落下泪来.

为了让更多的人学会相马,使千里马不再被埋没,也为了自己一身绝技不至于失传,孙阳把自己多年积累的相马经验和知识写成了一本书,配上各种马的形态图,书名叫《相马经》.

孙阳有个儿子,看了父亲写的《相马经》,以为相马很容易,就拿着这本书到处找好马.他按照书上所绘的图形去找,一无所获.又按书中所写的特征去找,最后发现有一只癞蛤蟆很像书中写的千里马的特征,便高兴地把癞蛤蟆带回家,对父亲说:"爸爸,我找到一匹千里马,只是蹄子稍差些."父亲一看,哭笑不得,没想到儿子竟如此愚笨,便幽默地说:"可惜这马太喜欢跳了,不能用来拉车."接着感叹道:"所谓按图索骥也."

故事出自明朝杨慎的《艺林伐山》.成语"按图索骥",比喻机械地照老办法办事,不知变通;也比喻按照某种线索去寻找事物.

洛阳纸贵 (Overwhelming Popularity of a New Work Causes Shortage of Printing Paper) luò yáng zhǐ guì
 
Overwhelming Popularity of a New Work Causes Shortage of Printing Paper

In the Jin Dynasty (265-420) there was a famous writer whose name was Zuo Si who, however, was very naughty and did not like to study when he was a small child.  His father often became angry, and yet young Zuo Si was as naughty as ever and would not study hard.

One day, Zuo Si's father was chatting with his friends. His friends envied him his clever and lovely son. Hearing this, Zuo si's father sighed, "Please do not mention him. My son Zuo si does not study as well as I did when I was young, although I did not study well enough myself. It appears that he is actually a good-for-nothing." So saying, he looked disappointed.

All this was witnessed by young Zuo Si. He felt very sad, feeling intensely that he would not be able to have a bright future if he did not study hard. So he was determined to study assiduously from then on.

Day after day and year after year, Zuo Si gradually grew up. Because of his unremitting afforts in hard study, he became an erudite scholar and wrote very excellent essays.

The "Ode to the Capital of the State of Qi", which took him one year to write, showed his brilliant literary talent and laid the foundation for his becoming an outstanding writer. then he planned to write an "Ode to the Capitals of the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu Han and Wu" with the local conditions and customs as well as the produce of the three capitals as its content. 

In order to achieve the desired effect in content, structure and language, he applied himself to research work with great concentration, and was so absorbed in creative writing as to forget food and sleep. It took him ten whole years to finish the writing of "Ode to the Capitals of the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu Han and Wu", a literary masterpiece.

The "Ode to the Capitals of the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu Han and Wu" was well received by the broad masses of readers after it made its appearance to the public, and people considered it as superbly written as the "Ode to the Western Capital (Changan) and to the Eastern Capital (Luoyang)" written by Ban Gu (32-92) and the "Ode to the Western Capital and to the Eastern Capital" written by Zhang Heng of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D.220).

As the art of printing had not been invented at that time, people who were fond of this "Ode" had to make handwritten copies of it themselves. As there were so many people who vied with each other in making handwritten copies, the supply of writing paper fell short of the demand in Luoyang went up greatly.

This story comes from "The life of Zuo Si" in the book "Literary Field" of The History of the Jin Dynasty. Based on this story, people have coined the set phrase "the price of writing paper went up greatly", meaning the overwhelming popularity of a new work causes shortage of printing paper, to show how popular an outstanding piece of literary work is.

Luo4     yang2     zhi3     gui4
洛     阳     纸     贵

晋代文学家左思,小时候是个非常顽皮、不爱读书的孩子.父亲经常为这事发脾气,可是小左思仍然淘气得很,不肯好好学习.

有一天,左思的父亲与朋友们聊天,朋友们羡慕他有个聪明可爱的儿子.左思的父亲叹口气说:"快别提他了,小儿左思的学习,还不如我小时候,看来没有多大的出息了."说着,脸上流露出失望的神色.这一切都被小左思看到听到了,他非常难过,觉得自己不好好念书确实很没出息.于是,暗暗下定决心,一定要刻苦学习.

日复一日,年复一年,左思渐渐长大了,由于他坚持不懈地发奋读书,终于成为一位学识渊博的人,文章也写得非常好.他用一年的时间写成了《齐都赋》,显示出他在文学方面的才华,为他成为杰出的文学家奠定了基础.这以后他又计划以三国时魏、蜀、吴首都的风土、人情、物产为内容,撰写《三都赋》.为了在内容、结构、语言诸方面都达到一定水平,他潜心研究,精心撰写,废寝忘食,用了整整十年,文学巨著《三都赋》终于写成了.

《三都赋》受到谅也评,人们把它和汉代文学杰作《两都赋》相比.由于当时还没有发明印刷术,喜爱《三都赋》的人只能争相抄阅,因为抄写的人太多,京城洛阳的纸张供不应求,一时间全城纸价大幅度上升.

故事出自《晋书·文苑·左思传》.成语"洛阳纸贵",称颂杰出的作品风行一进.

Traditional Chinese Version:

When you want to buy book in the book shop, you can use the following words:

你好　Hello

想　　want

買　　Buy

書　　Book

多少　how much / how many

元　　dollars

錢　　money

例子example:

Q:你好，我想買這本書，請問多少錢？

Q:Hello, I want to buy this book, how much is it?

A:三十元

A:Thirty dollars.

Note:

In the example, 本 is the quantifier of the book. 1本書,2本書,3本書...

請問 means "may I ask". It can be cancel in the sentence. But it is more polite if you use 請問 to ask question.

Simplified  Chinese Version:

When you want to buy book in the book shop, you can use the following words:

你好　Hello

想　　want

买　　Buy

书　　Book

多少　how much / how many

元　　dollars

钱　　money

例子example:

Q:你好，我想买这本书，请问多少钱？

Q:Hello, I want to buy this book, how much is it?

A:三十元

A:Thirty dollars.

Note:

In the example, 本 is the quantifier of the book. 1本书,2本书,3本书...

请问 means "may I ask". It can be cancel in the sentence. But it is more polite if you use 请问 to ask question.

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I come from China Hong Kong. My mother language is not Chinese, it's Cantonese. But in wiriting, they are same.

Anyway, I am not good English. If you find any mistake in the text, please tell me. I want to improve my English and improve your Chinese! =]