Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Chinese Idioms -- Hài qún zhī mǎ

害群之马 (Hài qún zhī mǎ )

The horse which does harm to the herd --- a black sheep

About four thousand years ago, China's first legendary ruler Huangdi (Yeallow Emperor) took his entourage into the countryside to visit an old friend. They met a boy who was keeping watch over a herd of horses. Huangdi asked the boy if he knew the way to his friend's village which was far away. The answer was yes. Then the emperor asked him if he knew his friend. The boy said yes again. Huangdi thought the boy so knowledgeable that he asked him if he knew how to role a country. The boy said the principle of ruling a country was not that different from watching over a herd of horses.

"You simply have to drive the wild horses out of the herd." The emperor left, deeply impressed by the boy.

The idiom 害群之马 (Hài qún zhī mǎ) is taken from what the boy said and is used for anyone who is a disgrace or a bad influence on his peers.



No comments:

Post a Comment