{"path":"/entry/55485","title":"东施效颦 / 東施效顰 (dōng shī xiào pín) — Chinese Dictionary | Flashbao","description":"东施效颦 / 東施效顰 (dōng shī xiào pín): literally Dong Shi imitates Xi Shi's frown (idiom). Explore meanings, example sentences and vocabulary decks.","catalog":null,"deck":null,"entry":{"reading":{"id":55485,"orthography":{"forms":{"SIMPLIFIED":["东施效颦"],"TRADITIONAL":["東施效顰"]}},"phonetic":"dōng shī xiào pín","phoneticKey":"dong1 shi1 xiao4 pin2","meanings":{"primary":[{"qualifier":null,"synonyms":[{"segments":[{"dim":false,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"literally Dong Shi imitates Xi Shi's frown ","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]},{"dim":true,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"(idiom)","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]}]}]}],"additional":[{"qualifier":null,"synonyms":[{"segments":[{"dim":false,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"figuratively to mimick someone's idiosyncrasies but make a fool of oneself","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]}]}]}],"notes":[],"variantMeanings":[]},"classifiers":[],"pos":["NOUN"],"frequency":null,"grammar":[],"spokenPhonetic":null},"otherReadings":[],"examples":[],"carriedReadings":[],"constructions":[],"status":null,"due":null,"reps":null,"lapses":null,"lastReview":null,"senses":[],"origins":[{"literal":null,"content":[{"type":"paragraph","text":{"simplified":"Based on a story in \"The Circling Sky\", in Zhuangzi (《莊子·天運》). Xishi (西施), a famous beauty in Chinese history, often frowned because of her heart disease. An ugly woman of the same village imitated Xishi to try to be as beautiful as her, but in turn made herself uglier and scared away the villagers.","traditional":null}},{"type":"paragraph","text":{"simplified":"The ugly woman was unnamed in the original text but people later named her 東施, as 东 (dōng, “east”) is the antonym of 西 (xī, “west”)","traditional":"The ugly woman was unnamed in the original text but people later named her 東施, as 東 (dōng, “east”) is the antonym of 西 (xī, “west”)"}}],"examples":[{"text":{"simplified":"西施病心而𪾸其里，其里之丑人见而美之，归亦捧心而𪾸其里。其里之富人见之，坚闭门而不出；贫人见之，挈妻子而去之走。彼知𪾸美而不知𪾸之所以美。惜乎！而夫子其穷哉！","traditional":"西施病心而矉其里，其里之醜人見而美之，歸亦捧心而矉其里。其里之富人見之，堅閉門而不出；貧人見之，挈妻子而去之走。彼知矉美而不知矉之所以美。惜乎！而夫子其窮哉！"},"phonetic":"Xīshī bìng xīn ér pín qí lǐ, qí lǐ zhī chǒu rén jiàn ér měi zhī, guī yì pěng xīn ér pín qí lǐ. Qí lǐ zhī fùrén jiàn zhī, jiān bìmén ér bù chū; pín rén jiàn zhī, qiè qī zǐ ér qù zhī zǒu. Bǐ zhī pín měi ér bùzhī pín zhīsuǒyǐ měi. Xī hū! Ér fūzǐ qí qióng zāi!","english":"When Xishi was having heart disease, she would knit her brows and frown on all in her neighbourhood. An ugly woman of the neighbourhood, seeing and admiring her beauty, went home, and also laying her hands on her heart proceeded to stare and frown on all around her. When the rich people of the village saw her, they shut fast their doors and would not go out; when the poor people saw her, they took their wives and children and ran away from her. The woman knew how to admire the frowning beauty, but she did not know how it was that she, though frowning, was beautiful. Alas! It is indeed all over with your Master!","ref":"Zhuangzi, circa 3ʳᵈ – 2ⁿᵈ centuries BCE"}],"senseScoped":false}],"decks":[{"id":27,"sourceName":"Chengyu","name":"Chengyu"}],"vocabularyScale":null,"vocabularyLevel":null}}