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滥竽充数 (lan4 yu2 chong1 shu4) - Playing off-key
February 22, 2009, Sunday
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SOME Chinese idioms have different meanings in different situations. lan4 yu2 chong1 shu4 or "pretending to be a yu player" is one of them.
If someone uses this idiom to describe himself, it is an expression demonstrating their modesty. They are saying "I'm not good enough and not quite qualified, though I'm in this post."
However, when it is used on others, it means "to pass oneself off as one of the skilled or professionals" or "to be there just to make up the numbers."
This saying was first used more than 2,000 years ago to describe a man known as Mr Nanguo in the State of Qi during the Warring States Period (476-221 BC).
The king of Qi loved to listen to the yu, an ancient Chinese wind instrument, and employed more than 300 yu players to perform at his court every day. He offered them liberal pay and many perks.
Mr Nanguo knew little about the instrument, but he envied the yu players and wished to make as much money as they did. So, he went to the court and told the king that he was a virtuoso yu player and wanted to join the royal ensemble.
The king was very happy that he could recruit a master player. He asked Nanguo to play with the ensemble the next day and offered the phony yu player a generous salary.
Though he did not know how to play the yu, during the performances Mr Nanguo imitated the finger movements of the other players and pretended to be playing very enthusiastically. The king appreciated Nanguo's "performance" very much and never found out that he was an imposter.
Later the king died and he was succeeded by his son, who turned out to be another admirer of the yu. But the new king liked the yu played as a solo instrument. So he asked players from the ensemble to perform for him one by one. Before it was his turn, Nanguo sneaked out of the court and fled to a hideout far away.
Today, lan4 yu2 chong1 shu4 can also be used to describe substandard goods that are mixed with quality goods just make up the numbers.
If someone uses this idiom to describe himself, it is an expression demonstrating their modesty. They are saying "I'm not good enough and not quite qualified, though I'm in this post."
However, when it is used on others, it means "to pass oneself off as one of the skilled or professionals" or "to be there just to make up the numbers."
This saying was first used more than 2,000 years ago to describe a man known as Mr Nanguo in the State of Qi during the Warring States Period (476-221 BC).
The king of Qi loved to listen to the yu, an ancient Chinese wind instrument, and employed more than 300 yu players to perform at his court every day. He offered them liberal pay and many perks.
Mr Nanguo knew little about the instrument, but he envied the yu players and wished to make as much money as they did. So, he went to the court and told the king that he was a virtuoso yu player and wanted to join the royal ensemble.
The king was very happy that he could recruit a master player. He asked Nanguo to play with the ensemble the next day and offered the phony yu player a generous salary.
Though he did not know how to play the yu, during the performances Mr Nanguo imitated the finger movements of the other players and pretended to be playing very enthusiastically. The king appreciated Nanguo's "performance" very much and never found out that he was an imposter.
Later the king died and he was succeeded by his son, who turned out to be another admirer of the yu. But the new king liked the yu played as a solo instrument. So he asked players from the ensemble to perform for him one by one. Before it was his turn, Nanguo sneaked out of the court and fled to a hideout far away.
Today, lan4 yu2 chong1 shu4 can also be used to describe substandard goods that are mixed with quality goods just make up the numbers.
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