chéngyǔ

chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

Years ago, “chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語)” was an Expression of the Week on the tiandi.info blog. That post from the early days of tiandi.info started by discussing the English word “idiom”, and then presented the Mandarin word “chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語)” as “the Chinese word for ‘idiom’ ”.

However, after further research, it appears, as is often the case with English and Mandarin words, that the English word “idiom” and the Mandarin word “chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語)”, which are often considered to be equivalent, are only mostly equivalent.

The online dictionary Wiktionary gives us this definition of “chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語)”:

a certain kind of Chinese set phrase originating in Classical Chinese, typically four or five characters in length

Also, Wikipedia provides the following summarized information:

Chéngyǔ are considered the collected wisdom of the Chinese culture, and contain the experiences, moral concepts, and admonishments from previous generations of Chinese.

…

They are often referred to as Chinese idioms or four-character idioms; however, they are not the only idioms in Chinese.

…

Chéngyǔ are mostly derived from ancient literature, including the pre-Qin classics, poetry from all periods of Chinese history, and late imperial vernacular novels and short stories. A small number were constructed in the 19th and early 20th centuries from Western source materials.

A quick check of Pleco does indeed turn up several other Mandarin words besides “chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語)” that also correspond to the English word “idiom”.

So, it appears that while chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) can be called idioms in English, not all Chinese idioms are chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語). It seems that “chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語)” specifically refers to Chinese idioms that originated in Classical Chinese, or Literary Chinese. This writing style has largely been replaced by written vernacular Chinese, which has been the standard style of writing for Modern Standard Mandarin for about a century now.

Since they originated in Classical Chinese, which hasn’t been current for about a century, chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) often cannot be fully understood by modern speakers and readers of Mandarin, since knowledge about the source material for chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) has naturally been fading with the passing of time.

Wikipedia offers up this example:

Chéngyǔ are generally meant to convey the message or moral of the myth, story or historical event from which they were derived. Thus, even after translation into modern words and syntax, chéngyǔ in isolation are often unintelligible without additional explanation. …

The phrase “破釜沉舟” (pò fǔ chén zhōu, lit: “break the pots and sink the ships”) is based on a historical account where the general Xiang Yu ordered his troops to destroy all cooking utensils and boats after crossing a river into the enemy’s territory. He won the battle because of this “no-retreat” strategy. Thus, the idiom is used as a verb phrase with the meaning “to make an all-out effort to achieve success by the deliberate removal of recourse or backup.” Similar phrases are known in the West, such as “Point of no return” or “Crossing the Rubicon”.

“Darmok”

Researching this post on chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) made me think of the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled “Darmok”. In this episode, the crew of the Federation starship Enterprise encounters an alien species called the Tamarians. This species speaks using phrases like “Temba, his arms wide”, which even the show’s fictional universal translator cannot fully decipher for the befuddled Federation crew.

While some consider this to be one of the greatest episodes of Star Trek, as someone who has been trained to communicate a life-saving message as clearly and understandably as possible, I have always found the alien way of speaking in this episode to be incredibly stupid, counter-productive, and even dangerous. How obviously foolish it is when speaking to require your audience to have cultural or other knowledge that they probably don’t have, resulting in failure to communicate!

In “Darmok” (spoilers), the Enterprise and the alien ship ended up actually shooting at each other, and the alien captain ended up dying because he and the Enterprise’s Captain Picard had such difficulties coming to understand each other. In such a scenario, there is great risk and danger, and no guarantee that mutual understanding will eventually be achieved, even between ones as intelligent and well-motivated as the crew of the Enterprise and the crew of this alien ship were. How much better it is to speak simply and understandably from the beginning!—1 Co. 14:8–11.

In Today’s Mandarin Field

One highly educated Mandarin-speaking brother I know was admonished by his daughter to tone down his extensive use of chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) in his talks, because while they may be very cool to those who have the background knowledge to get them, many listeners actually cannot understand them. Although generally a genial and pleasant fellow, this scholarly brother’s irritated reply was to the effect of, “This is a Chinese congregation, people should learn the language!”

Understandably, when one knows a lot about something, the tendency and the temptation is to use that knowledge, even when it may not be appropriate for our purpose or our audience. So, it would be good for those of us serving in the Mandarin field to remember that we should be using our language skills to speak understandably about “the magnificent things of God”, not to showcase the cultural traditions and knowledge of mere humans.—Acts 2:8–11.

As noted above, even among the humans in the Chinese world, knowledge of chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) seems to be fading away. As time goes by, and as the experience of modern life inevitably continues to change, knowledge of chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) seems to be gradually becoming something that only belongs to the relative few who have a particular interest in these pithy distillations of traditional experience. This is perhaps similar to how in the English-speaking world, it’s probably true that by now only relatively few particularly interested ones can fully understand references (e.g., “Et tu, Brute?”) based on the plots of Shakespeare’s plays. Now, rather than coming up with new chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語), when Chinese people in general get creative with the language, it’s typically while they are chatting on the Internet.

One useful barometer to check regarding how much we should learn and use chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) in today’s Mandarin field is to consider how much they are used in today’s official publications of Jehovah’s organization. Comparing Mandarin publications from years ago to those of today, it can be seen that the trend is to use ever simpler and clearer language, as is the trend with English publications. Thus, chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) are being used less and less in Mandarin publications as time goes by. Following this example, we thus should also be using fewer and fewer chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(things that) have become} · sayings → [set phrases (typically of 4 characters); idioms] 成语 成語) in the Mandarin field as time goes by.

If and when we do use a chéngyǔ (chéng·yǔ {(sth. that) has become} · saying → [set phrase (typically of 4 characters); idiom] 成语 成語), we should make sure that we explain it well enough so that even those who had never heard of it or its backstory can understand and benefit from it.