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Chinese Idiom
削足适履(xuē zú shì lǚ)
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The Han Dynasty (hàn cháo汉朝) book titled Huai Nan Zi (huaí nán zǐ 淮南子) tells a story about a man who went out to buy shoes. The shopkeeper handed him a pair that was small. The foolish man, instead of asking for another pair, tried to cut his feet to fit the shoes. When the foolish man went to buy a cap, the first cap he tried was too small, so he tried to cut off his scalp so that the cap would fit. This idiom satirizes those who handle things without considering the real situation, but rigidly adapt unsuitable rules.

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掩耳盗铃 (yǎn ěr dào líng)
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altIn the Spring and Autumn period (chūn qiū 春秋时期,770-476 BC), a thief had stolen a bell and intended to carry it away on his back, but the bell was too bulky and heavy to be carried, so he tried to break it into pieces with a hammer to make it easier for carrying. On his first hit, however, the bell made a loud noise. He thus feared that the ringing sound might be heard by someone, who would come to rob him of his bell. His fright made him plug his own ears, while hitting the bell with the hammer. The bell sound was, nevertheless, audible to others and therefore to stuff his ears for the purpose of stealing a bell was a stupid action it is as foolish as burying one's head in the sand.

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偃旗息鼓 (yǎn qí xī gǔ)
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In the Three Kingdoms Period (sān guó shíqī 三国时期,220-280AD). Cao Cao (cáo cāo 曹操)and Liu Bei (liú bèi 刘备) were both considerablly talented leaders of two Kingdoms respectively. In order to gain the final domination of the whole country,they contended with each other usually.

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叶公好龙 (yè gōng hào lóng)
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altIn the Spring and Autumn Period  (chūn qiū 春秋时期,770-476 B), there lived in Chu a person named Shen Zhuliang, who addressed himself as "Lord Ye (叶公)". It's said that this Lord Ye was very fond of dragons. The walls had dragons painted on them. The beams and pillars and the doors and the windows were all carved with them. As a result, his love for dragons was spread out. When the real dragon in heaven heard of this Lord Ye, he was deeply moved. He decided to visit Lord Ye to thank him. You might think Lord Ye would have been very happy to see a real dragon. But, in fact, at the sight of the creature, he was scared out of his wits and ran away as fast as he could. From then on, people knew that Lord Ye only loved pictures or carvings which look like dragons, not the real thing.

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夜郎自大(yè láng zì dà)
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In the Han Dynasty (hàn cháo 汉朝), there was a tiny country called Yelang (yè lǎng 夜郎) on the southwestern border. Small though it was, its ruler was quite proud of his country, thinking it big and powerful. Once, a Han envoy visited Yelang. The ruler asked him: "Which is bigger, Han or Yelang?" Later this idiom came to be used to refer to those who are capable of nothing yet are conceited.

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一鼓作气 (yì gǔ zuò qì)
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During the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋 chūn qiū,770--221 BC),an army from the State of Qi (qí guó 齐国) confronted one from the State of Lu (lǔ guó 鲁国). After the first roll of drums from the Qi side to summon Lu to battle,the Lu ruler wanted to attack.

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