Yang over at Learn Mandarin Now is spoiling me with all these guest posts. I’ve been struggling to find something that suitable for beginners lately – everything I stumble across ends up being intermediate. But this is a very good place for beginners to start reading chéngyǔ (成语 idiom) stories, because you’ll get an introduction […]
从前有一位楚国人, 他非常爱惜他的宝剑。有一天，他正坐在船上准备过河，一不小心他就把宝剑掉进了河里。他马上在宝剑掉落的地方作了记号。当他到达对岸的时候，他沿着记号跳进河里去找他的宝剑。当然，他已经找不到了。
宝剑已经不在原来掉落的地方因为船和水都在移动。这个故事形容只会刻板地遵守规则，不懂变通的人。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 从前 | cóng qián | previously; formerly; once upon a time |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 位 | wèi | position; location; place; seat; classifier for people (honorific); classifier for binary bits (e.g. 十六位 16-bit or 2 bytes); (physics) potential |
| 楚 | Chǔ | surname Chu; abbr. for Hubei 湖北省[Hu2 bei3 Sheng3] and Hunan 湖南省[Hu2 nan2 Sheng3] provinces together; Chinese kingdom during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods (722–22… |
| 国人 | guó rén | compatriots (literary); fellow countrymen |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 爱 | ài | to love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen) |
| 惜 | xi | to cherish; to pity |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 宝剑 | bǎo jiàn | (double-edged) sword (esp. a valuable or famous one); CL:把[ba3] |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 正 | zhēng | first month of the lunar year |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 船 | chuán | variant of 船[chuan2]; boat; vessel; ship; CL:條|条[tiao2],艘[sou1],隻|只[zhi1] |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 准备 | zhǔn bèi | preparation; to prepare; to intend; to be about to; reserve (fund) |
| 过河 | guò hé | to cross a river |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 小心 | xiǎo xīn | to be careful; to take care |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the ob… |
| 掉 | diào | to fall; to drop; to lag behind; to lose; to go missing; to reduce; fall (in prices); to lose (value, weight etc); to wag; to swing; to turn; to change; to exchange; to swap; to sh… |
| 进 | jìn | to go forward; to advance; to go in; to enter; to put in; to submit; to take in; to admit; (math.) base of a number system; classifier for sections in a building or residential com… |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 河 | hé | river (CL:條|条[tiao2],道[dao4]); (bound form) the Yellow River; (bound form) the Milky Way; (bound form) (on restaurant menus) rice noodles 河粉[he2 fen3] |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 马上 | mǎ shàng | at once; right away; immediately; on horseback (i.e. by military force) |
| 落 | là | to leave out; to be missing; to leave behind or forget to bring; to lag or fall behind |
| 地方 | dì fāng | region; regional (away from the central administration); local |
| 作 | zuō | (bound form) worker; (bound form) workshop; (slang) troublesome; high-maintenance (person) |
| 记号 | jì hao | mark; symbol; notation; seal |
| 当 | dāng | (onom.) dong; ding dong (bell); to be; to act as; manage; withstand; when; during; ought; should; match equally; equal; same; obstruct; just at (a time or place); on the spot; right; just at |
| 到达 | dào dá | to reach; to arrive |
| 对岸 | duì àn | opposite bank (of a body of water) |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 沿着 | yán zhe | to go along; to follow |
| 跳进 | tiào jìn | to plunge into; to jump into |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 找 | zhǎo | to try to find; to look for; to call on sb; to find; to seek; to return; to give change |
| 当然 | dāng rán | only natural; as it should be; certainly; of course; without doubt |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 找不到 | zhǎo bu dào | can't find |
| 原 | Yuán | surname Yuan; (Japanese surname) Hara |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 水 | Shuǐ | surname Shui; Shui ethnic group |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 移 | yī | to move; to change; to remove |
| 动 | dòng | (of sth) to move; to set in movement; to displace; to touch; to make use of; to stir (emotions); to alter; abbr. for 動詞|动词[dong4 ci2], verb |
| 这个 | zhè ge | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this |
| 故事 | gù shì | old practice |
| 形容 | xíng róng | to describe; (literary) countenance; appearance |
| 只 | zhī | variant of 隻|只[zhi1]; variant of 只[zhi3]; grain that has begun to ripen; classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 刻板 | kè bǎn | stiff; inflexible; mechanical; stubborn; to cut blocks for printing |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 遵 | zun | to observe; to follow |
| 守 | shǒu | to guard; to defend; to keep watch; to abide by the law; to observe (rules or ritual); nearby; adjoining |
| 规则 | guī zé | rule; regulation; regular; orderly; fixed |
| 懂 | dǒng | to understand; to comprehend |
| 变通 | biàn tōng | pragmatic; flexible; to act differently in different situations; to accommodate to circumstances |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
Long ago, there was a man from the State of Chu who loved his sword very much. One day, he was sitting in his boat preparing to cross a river, when he accidentally dropped his sword into the water. He immediately made a notch on the side of the boat at the place where his dear sword fell. When he returned close to shore, he re-entered the water just beneath the notch he made, looking for his sword. Naturally, he wasn’t able to find it.
The sword was already gone because the boat and the river were in motion. This idiom is used to describe a person who sticks to rigid rules without considering a changing environment [or describes an action made pointless by changing circumstances].