{"path":"/entry/67547","title":"滥竽充数 / 濫竽充數 (làn yú chōng shù) — Chinese Dictionary | Flashbao","description":"滥竽充数 / 濫竽充數 (làn yú chōng shù): literally to play the yu 竽 mouth organ to make up numbers (idiom) · figuratively to make up the numbers with inferior products. Explore meanings, example sentences and vocabulary decks.","catalog":null,"deck":null,"entry":{"reading":{"id":67547,"orthography":{"forms":{"SIMPLIFIED":["滥竽充数"],"TRADITIONAL":["濫竽充數"]}},"phonetic":"làn yú chōng shù","phoneticKey":"lan4 yu2 chong1 shu4","meanings":{"primary":[{"qualifier":null,"synonyms":[{"segments":[{"dim":false,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"literally to play the yu 竽 mouth organ to make up numbers ","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]},{"dim":true,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"(idiom)","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]}]},{"segments":[{"dim":false,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"figuratively to make up the numbers with inferior products","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]}]}]},{"qualifier":null,"synonyms":[{"segments":[{"dim":false,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"to masquerade as having an ability","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]}]}]},{"qualifier":null,"synonyms":[{"segments":[{"dim":false,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"token member of a group","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]}]}]}],"additional":[],"notes":[],"variantMeanings":[]},"classifiers":[],"pos":["NOUN","VERB"],"frequency":43578,"grammar":[],"spokenPhonetic":null},"otherReadings":[],"examples":[],"carriedReadings":[],"constructions":[],"status":null,"due":null,"reps":null,"lapses":null,"lastReview":null,"senses":[],"origins":[{"literal":"to pretend to play the yu in order to make up the numbers","content":[{"type":"paragraph","text":{"simplified":"Based on a story in Han Feizi","traditional":null}}],"examples":[{"text":{"simplified":"齐宣王使人吹竽必三百人。\n南郭处士请为王吹竽，宣王说之，廪食以数百人。\n宣王死，湣王立，好一一听之，处士逃。","traditional":"齊宣王使人吹竽必三百人。\n南郭處士請為王吹竽，宣王說之，廩食以數百人。\n宣王死，湣王立，好一一聽之，處士逃。"},"phonetic":"Qí Xuānwáng shǐ rén chuī yú bì sān bǎi rén.\nNánguō chǔshì qǐng wèi wáng chuī yú, Xuānwáng yuè zhī, lǐnshí yǐ shù bǎi rén.\nXuānwáng sǐ, Mǐnwáng lì, hào yīyī tīng zhī, chǔshì táo.","english":"Whenever King Xuan of Qi had men play the yu [a mouth organ], there had to be 300 men playing simultaneously.\nA reclusive scholar, by the name of Nanguo [lit. southern wall of a city], who was unable to play the instrument, asked if he could join the ensemble and play the yu for the king. King Xuan was delighted by this, and dispensed enough food rations for several hundred musicians.\nThen, King Xuan died, and King Min took the throne. He preferred to listen to the yu players one-by-one, so the reclusive scholar fled. (Wiktionary translation)","ref":"Han Feizi, circa 2ⁿᵈ century BCE"}],"senseScoped":false}],"decks":[{"id":27,"sourceName":"Chengyu","name":"Chengyu"}],"vocabularyScale":null,"vocabularyLevel":null}}