Glossary

^{I actually like idioms a lot, no matter which language I always find them very interesting, specially their story of how they came to be. So I’ll be using this page to write down Chinese idioms I encounter from now on, not only those found in Who moved my mountain but also others in other novels I read. This is more like a personal record than an actual glossary of the novel, though idioms in the novel will always be included..}

• A piece of white moonlight – refers to (men’s?) first or true love.
• Verdant hills and limpid water (山 明 水 秀) – meaning an enchanting scenary, probably with lush greenery and clear water, you can easily picture the idyllic landscape.
• Smashing an already broken jar -meaning that since the jar is already broken, even if it’s smashed again, it’s still a broken jar, so there’s no need to cherish it. It’s used to described a situation where after suffering setbacks, instead of amending the situation, just let it be.
• To splash dirty water (泼 脏 水) – to speak badly of, to smear sb.
• To point at the mulberry tree and curse the locust tree (指桑骂槐)–  to scold and make accusations indirectly.
• Hasty men don’t get to eat hot tofu – meaning haste will ruin everything, one just has to be patient.
• Cut sleeve (断 袖 之 癖)- euphemism for homosexual, gay. Emperor Han Aidi from Western Han (漢書|汉书) was in bed with his lover Dong Xian. When morning came and he had to attend morning court, he didn’t wish to awaken the little lover, who was sleeping with his head resting on the emperor’s robes’ long sleeve. So he used a knife to cut his sleeve in order to not disturb him.
• To wear a green hat – to be a cuckold. They say there was this one merchant whose wife was having an affair with another man, and the wife bought a green hat for his husband to wear whenever he went on a trip saying it would bring him good luck. This way, whenever the lover saw the husband wearing the green hat, he knew the husband would be out of town so he could freely meet with the wife.
• The red apricot tree leans over the garden wall (红 杏 出 墙)– meaning the wife is having an illicit affair. My favorite Chinese idiom without doubt!
• To refrain from shooting at the rat for fear of breaking the vases (投 鼠 忌 器) – to not act against an evil to prevent harming the innocent.
• As a lotus flower breaking the surface (出水芙蓉) – exceedingly beautiful, referring to a young lady’s face or a gentleman’s calligraphy.
• Hasty men don’t get to eat tofu – haste will ruin everything, one needs to be patient.
• Old cow eating young grass (老牛吃嫩草) – when an older man is in a relationship with a much younger woman.
• The blue sea turned into the mulberry fields (沧海桑田)– sth along the lines of ‘great changes/transformations in the world’. A variant or very similar one, blue seas where once was mulberry fields (渤澥桑田), meaning time brings great changes.
• Until the seas run dry and the stones go soft (海枯石烂) – until the end of time, forever.
• Like two locusts tied to the same string(一条绳子上的蚂蚱) – in the same boat, in it together for better or worse.
• A needle concealed in silk floss (绵 里 藏 针) – a wolf in sheep’s clothing,  having a ruthless character hid behind a gentle appearance. 
• A man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant (人心不足蛇吞象)– Chinese proverb meaning people’s hearts are too greedy, avaricious and insatiable.
• To eat bear heart and leopard gall (吃 熊 心 豹 子 胆) – to pluck up courage.
• To pour beans out of a bamboo tube (竹 筒 倒 豆 子) – to come clean, to confess.
• Porcelain bumping (碰瓷)- situation when someone places on purpose fragile expensive items where they can be knocked down easily, and then ask for a damage fees even though the items are fakes. Used to refer to a widespread fraud in China involving deliberately crashing cars then demanding compensation. Also seen in mangas where thugs purposely bump into weak-looking people and ask compensation for hospital fees claiming they broke their arm.
• Without the strength to truss a chicken (手无缚鸡之力) – meaning someone is too weak, frequently used to refer to women as weak (at least in the ancient setting novels I’ve read).
• To try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it (偷鸡不成蚀把米)– to try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off.
•  The clouds are pale and a light breeze is blowing (云淡风轻) – to appear neutral and indifferent.
• Turning his hand palm up he gathers the clouds, turning his hand palm down he turns them to rain (翻手为云覆手变雨) – meaning very powerful and capable.
• To call the wind and summon the rain (呼風喚雨) – to stir up trouble. May also refer to possessing magical powers.
• A married daughter is like spilt water (嫁出去的女儿, 泼出去的水) – coming from this traditional Chinese thinking, once a daughter of the family is married (into the husband’s family) it stops belonging to her parent’s family. It’s like spilt water, you won’t ever recuperate it.
• To know someone’s face without being aware of their heart (知人知面不知心) – meaning one may know a person for a long time without understanding their true nature.
• A wise man looks after his own hide (明哲保身)- to put one’s own safety before matters of principle/righteousness. 
• A pearl in the palm (掌上明珠) – the apple of one’s eyes, a beloved person (especially a daughter).
• To spit blood (血口喷人) – idiom used for when someone is victim of malicious attacks and venomous slander. Typically, coughing blood is symptom of sth going wrong with one’s health, so this is used to draw attention to how much the situation affects the person that it even endangers their health. 
• To be indifferent to worldly rewards (淡泊名利) – to not care about fame and fortune.
• To eat soft, but refuse hard foot (吃软不吃硬) – to be amenable to coaxing but not to coercion.
• To take joy in calamity and delight in disaster (幸灾乐祸) – meaning to rejoice in other people’s misfortune.
• To cut weeds and eliminate the roots (斩草除根, ) – idiom meaning to eliminate completely.
• The magpie made the nest but the turtledove dwells in it (鹊巢鸠占) – meaning to reap what one has not sown, to steal the profit of anoher’s effort, for one person to forcibly take another person’s place.
• To place sb on a field of death and then they would fight to live (置之死地而后生) –  meaning to fight desperately when confronting mortal danger, to find a way out of an impasse. Idiom based on Sunzi’s “The Art of War” (孫子兵法|孙子兵法).
•  A mantis trying to stop a chariot (螳臂当车) –   meaning to overrate oneself and attempt sth impossible.
• To fish a needle from the sea (大海捞针) – to find a needle in a haystack.
• Beautiful women suffer unhappy fates (红颜薄命) – lit. blushing face with poor fate.
• One doesn’t visit a temple without a cause (无事不登三宝殿) – meaning to visit sb with an ulterior motive (esp. to ask for sth), having a hidden agenda.
• Unable to accomplish anything but liable to spoil everything (成事不足败事有余) – meaning that one is unable to do anything righ, but can always cause damage.
• To cut weeds and eliminate the roots (斩草除根) – meaning to completely eliminate/erradicate something or someone.
• Breaking faith and abandoning right (背信弃义) – idiom meaning to betray, treachery, perfidy.
• To take joy in calamity and delight in disaster (幸灾乐祸 ) – idiom meaning to rejoice in other people’s misfortune.
• To act for oneself and suffer the consequence (自作自受 ) – to reap what you sow; to make your bed and lie on it.
•  To see what is right and act courageously (见义勇为) – meaning to stand up bravely for the truth; acting heroically in a just cause.
• The dishes are cold (黄花菜都凉了) –  to arrive late, to take one’s sweet time.
• To open the mouth big (狮子大开口了) – demanding an exorbitant/unreasonable payment.

 

^{A special thanks to Jen from Broken Jinsei since many of these idioms come from her awesome translations.}