The Chinese Sayings Podcast

The story behind this Chinese Saying is a great one from Chinese history. The story of Tóu Bǐ Cóng Róng 投笔从戎 revolves around the esteemed Ban Family of historians. The patriarch was Ban Biao who co-wrote the Book of Han. Unfortunately, he passed away before completing this momentous work. His children Ban Gu and Ban Zhao completed the Book of Han. They had another sibling named Ban Chao who al...

Another good one for you today from the golden age of chengyu's, The Warring States Period. This Chinese Sayings is taken from the Zuo Zhuan 左转 and concerns Duke Jing of the powerful State of Jin 晋景公. This gruesome story of revenge and deceit gave us the chengyu 病入膏肓. Bìng Rù Gāo Huāng. When any kind of situation reaches this Bìng Rù Gāo Huāng condition, it's hopeless. There's nothing tha...

We're back with another season of wonderful and useful chengyu's for your Chinese sayings repertoire. Everyone knows this one. Well, maybe not everyone but it's pretty well-known. We ended last season in the Later Han Dynasty and that's where we'll start Season 5. Though this story was written during the Ming dynasty it concerns the 3rd Century character Sima Hui 司马徽. He was the original Hǎo Hǎ...

For the Season 4 closer, we end with a story taken from the Later Book of Han from the chapter all about the model official Zhang Gang. Not even the evil Liang Ji of Han Emperor Shun's time could poison the reputation and deeds of Zhang Gang. In this week's CSP offering, we see Zhang Gang talk some sense with the rebel bandit Zhang Ying. We'll see how he throws Zhang Ying a lifeline to rescue him...

Laszlo dredges up another great one from China's ancient times. This one not only features a story from Zhuangzi's Second Book of the Dao (a.k.a. The Zhuangzi) but also stars the great Confucius himself. In this story from the 5th century BC, Confucius is taken on a wild and bumpy ride with the violent and course "Robber" Zhi 盗跖. After trying to convince "Robber" Zhi of the error in his ways, Co...

Here's another good one to remember if your life should temporarily hit the skids and your friends scatter. This one comes from the Grand Historian himself, Sima Qian, who tells us all about Lord Zhai, a loyal and respected public servant during the long reign of Han Emperor Wu. I hope you never have to use this one in your life but keep Mén Kě Luǒ Què 门可罗雀 handy just in case. And take a page...

Welcome back to another CSP. This time I'm happy to present to you another great one direct from The Zhuangzi. Everyone's favorite Daoist tells us the story about a young kid from the sticks who had a chance encounter with no less a personage than The Yellow Emperor himself. When engaging the young kid about matters regarding how to rule the world we learn the useful idiom of Hài Qún Zhī Mǎ 害群之...

In the latest CSP episode, we harken back to the early Jin Dynasty 晋朝 and the zaniness of the Sima Clan following the death of Emperor Wu of Jin. Plenty of blood flowed during the shake-out period as the 3rd century AD came to a close. But it wasn't all bad. From this period we get the great Chinese Saying, Gǒu Wěi Xù Diāo 狗尾续貂. Keep this one in your back pocket for use in case of something...

Today's CSP offering goes way way back to the time of Ancient Chu State during the 7th century BC. The famous "Hé Shì Bì" 和氏璧 Jade ornament discussed years ago in CSP episode S3E01 once again takes center stage. In this prequel to that S3E01 episode, we see how a poor farmer (He Shi) discovers this priceless jade and makes multiple failed attempts to hand it over to the King of Chu. This is rea...

Today's Chinese Saying, Bān Mén Nòng Fǔ 班门弄斧 comes to us courtesy of the Tang and Song Dynasty luminaries Liu Zongyuan and Ouyang Xiu who teach us about the Zhou Dynasty hero Lu Ban. He knew how to use an ax to build stuff like no one else. You don't want to stand outside his doorway and brag about your ax-wielding skills. This is a good one to use when you see people talking up their skillset...

Another classic from the long list of great Chinese Sayings. 守株待兔 Shǒu Zhū Dài Tù. Thank Han Feizi for this one. He teaches us not to sit around and wait for good luck to find us. Just because you got lucky once doesn't mean lightning will strike twice. In this quick story about the farmer in Song State, we learn sometimes it's better to go out and seek what you want rather than waiting for it...

Remember that O'Jay's tune from 1972, "Backstabbers"? They must have had Tang Dynasty chancellor Li Linfu in mind. The story behind our Chinese Saying for this time 口蜜腹剑 tells the story of this 8th-century politician/official who served the great Emperor Xuanxong (玄宗). All the time, they want to take your place, the backstabbers (backstabbers). Beware of those with a honey mouth and a dagger...

Welcome back to the fourth season of the Chinese Sayings Podcast. After three years and seven months, we continue where we left off with another story behind one of the great Chinese Sayings, or chengyu. This time around, we harken back to the "Strategies of the Warring States" to look at the tale of drawing legs on a snake. Don't forget, all the characters and Chinese terms from all the CSP episo...

For the final episode of Season 3 Laszlo closes with one of the classics from the Three Kingdoms era. Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang star in this drama played against the backdrop of the Battle of Red Cliff. Who hasn't fallen victim to something big or small that resulted when your best-laid plans didn't quite work out as you expected. For a full list of the terms used in this episode, please visit the w...

Another classic from the Eastern Han which features the future King of Shu, the great Liu Bei of Three Kingdoms period renown. In this episode we find Liu Bei catching a breather after suffering a defeat in the service of Yuan Shao at the hands of Cao Cao's forces. During his period of laying low, Liu Bei starts to regret the situation he finds himself in. For a full list of the terms used in this...

Laszlo introduces another nobody from Chinese history named Zong Que who had his own great aspirations. He swore he would make something of himself one day. Furthermore, if he did, he was determined to do it as a soldier. Although Zong Que's achievements on the battlefield weren't written about in most history books, the old Book of Song included his story and how we got this episode's featured Ch...

This week's Chinese Saying comes from a story direct from the Eastern Han Dynasty.  It features the Guangwu Emperor who gave us this useful idiom when he praised the star of our episode.  For a full list of the terms used in this episode, please visit the website at teacup.media Want to support the CSP? Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/ChinaHistoryPodcast Donate via PayPal: https://www.pay...

When the Han Emperor Xuan had a headache out in west China he called on Old Reliable, General Zhao Chongguo, to deal with it. From this, we get one of the most useful Chinese Sayings ever! For a full list of the terms used in this episode, please visit the website at teacup.media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...

We're midway through the halfway point in Season 3. China History Podcast fans will all know this story from which our Chengyu was derived. These is the early years of the Warring States period. Kings Goujian of Yue State and Fuchai of Wu were slugging it out down in Central China. From this epic struggle between these two neighboring rivals came one of the great stories from ancient Chinese histo...

We're in the dying days of the Qin Dynasty with this week's Chinese Saying. The Dazexiang Uprising marked a turning point in the fortunes of the Qin empire.  In this episode we meet Chen Sheng, a.k.a. Chen She, whose origins couldn't have been more humble. Hear his story and how he aspired to be to become the Hong Hu Zhi Zhi concealed away in his heart. For a full list of the terms used in this ep...

For this week's offering, we hear the well-known legend of Xiang Yu, Zhang Han, and Liu Bang. As the Qin Dynasty starts to crumble Xiang Yu heads to the defense of Zhao State to face off against the ever-victorious Qin general Zhang Han and ultimately the kingship of Guanzhong.  Before he engaged Zhang Han in battle, Xiang Yu shouted a four-syllable order to his troops. And we look at these famous...

We continue on with another story featuring the great statesman from the Warring States period, Lin Xiangru. After becoming a hero last episode for returning the He Shi Bi Jade back to Zhao, Lin rose high in the government.  But the mighty general Lian Po wasn't satisfied to play second fiddle and was determined to put Lin Xiangru in his place. He should have known better and learned a great lesso...

Season 3 is off and running with an episode featuring the Western Han statesman and hero Sima Xiangru. In this Season 3 series all episodes will feature heroes and brave soldiers from Chinese history. In this episode Sima Xiangru promises his king if the precious He Shi Bi jade ornament should get stolen or lost, he will find it and return it safely to his home state of Zhao all in one piece. Supp...

In the CSP Season 2 finale, Laszlo picks out a good one featuring China's most famous person from ancient times. Today with our smartphone-obsessed lifestyles you can say we too are sometimes so absorbed in our TikTok videos and Twitter, we too sometimes don't notice the smell of meat. For a full list of the terms used in this episode, please visit the website at teacup.media Learn more about your...

Laszlo tells a story of true love between two literary famosas from the Song Dynasty. Theirs was the perfect love that contained all the ingredients of marital bliss except length of years together. For a full list of the terms used in this episode, please visit the website at teacup.media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...