In the Spring and Autumn Period (chūn qiū 春秋时期,770-476 BC), there was a beauty in the State of Yue called Xishi (xī shī 西施). She often suffered from pains in her chest, and so she would often walk around doubled over and with her brows knitted. There was an ugly girl in the village called Dongshi who envied Xishi. Striving to emulate Xishi, she imitated her stoop, knitting her brows at the same time. She thought that this made her elegant, but in fact, it only made her more ugly.
Later, this idiom came to be used to indicate improper imitation that produces the reverse effect.

Wang Xizhi (wāng xī zhī 王羲之) is one of the most famous calligraphers during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (dōng jìn 东晋,AD 317-420) of China. When he was very young, he practiced his art every day and never stopped. Later he absorbed the strong points of all the other schools of calligraphy, and developed his own unique style of writing. Because of his achievements, he has been honored as one of China's sages of calligraphy. It is said that a carpenter once found that the ink of the characters Wang Xizhi had written had gone almost one centimeter into the wood because of his forceful stroke." Rù Mù Sān Fēn" is got from this story, which means the calligraphy is penetrating. Now it is often used to describe expressing sharp ideas or profound views.

 
At the end of the Qin Dynasty (qín cháo 秦朝,221-206 BC), the State of Chu and the State of Han fought for control of the country. Xiang Yu, the king of Chu, was besieged at a place called Gaixia by the Han army led by Liu Bang. Xiang Yu was in a desperate situation, with little food and only a few soldiers. At night, the surrounding Han troops started to sing Chu folk songs. Xiang Yu was very surprised at this, and said, “Has Liu Bang occupied the whole of Chu? How can he have drafted so many Chu people into his army?” Then he fled together with the remainder of his forces.This idiom is used metaphorically to mean to be in a helpless and critical situation, surrounded by the enemy on all sides.

In ancient times, there was a man who wanted to make a fine cart. But, instead of learning how to do it form experts, he shut himself up at home and worked at it. Despite the time and effort he spent on it, the cart was useless. This chinese idiom means to make a cart behind closed doors or to work behind closed doors; divorce oneself from the masses and from reality; act blindly. It is also used metahhorically to mean being too subjective and disregrading the rest of the world.

During the Spring and Autumn Period (chūn qiū 春秋时期,770-476 BC), there was a man in the State of Qin whose name was Sun Yang (sūn yáng 孙阳). Sun Yang was very expert in looking at horses and judging their worth. 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.

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 thought it was very esay to appraise horses according to the book. So he took it with him to look for fine horses. He found the characteristics of a toad fit very well the characteristics described in the book. So he happily took the toad back home, Sun Yang did not know whether he should laugh or cry. "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. Sometimes it is also used to refer to trying to locate something by following up a clue.