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狗尾续貂 (gou3 wei3 xu4 diao1) - Wagging the dog
By Zhang Ciyun |
December 28, 2008, Sunday
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In English, there are many expressions associated with dogs, such as "die like a dog," "in the doghouse" and "it's a dog's life." In Chinese, there is also a popular saying relating to this animal and it has to do with its tail.
The Chinese idiom (gou3 wei3 xu4 diao1), or "substituting dog's tail for sable" grew out of a fierce and complex power struggle in the court of the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 265-316).
When Sima Yan became the first emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, he granted titles and territories to a large number of nobles. This was because the new emperor believed such measures would encourage these nobles to help consolidate his rule and pay hefty tribute to the imperial court.
But actually, the emperor's decision later led to widespread separatism and furious factional strife.
After Sima Yan died in AD 290, the power struggle in the imperial court escalated out of control and, in less than 10 years, the throne changed hands several times. Members and relatives of the royal family all seemed to be involved in some sort of dirty plotting or even cold-blooded murder in order to seize power for themselves.
In AD 300, Sima Lun, who was then in control of the royal army, staged a successful coup and named himself the new ruler. Like the first emperor of the dynasty, Sima Lun granted titles to several thousands of his followers. As a result, the court soon ran out of the supply of official seals needed for all those appointments and the sable used to decorate the hats of royal officers.
To solve this unexpected problem, the emperor decided to use white-painted wooden plates to substitute for metal seals and dog tails to replace the fur of sable. People immediately began to ridicule the makeshift insignias of the imperial court by coining the phrase "substituting sable with dog tails."
Although the Western Jin Dynasty was ill-fated and short-lived, it did leave behind a lasting legacy as the saying about "dog tails" still lives on in the Chinese language today.
This idiom is now used most often to criticize those who create a deplorable sequel to a master piece.
The Chinese idiom (gou3 wei3 xu4 diao1), or "substituting dog's tail for sable" grew out of a fierce and complex power struggle in the court of the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 265-316).
When Sima Yan became the first emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, he granted titles and territories to a large number of nobles. This was because the new emperor believed such measures would encourage these nobles to help consolidate his rule and pay hefty tribute to the imperial court.
But actually, the emperor's decision later led to widespread separatism and furious factional strife.
After Sima Yan died in AD 290, the power struggle in the imperial court escalated out of control and, in less than 10 years, the throne changed hands several times. Members and relatives of the royal family all seemed to be involved in some sort of dirty plotting or even cold-blooded murder in order to seize power for themselves.
In AD 300, Sima Lun, who was then in control of the royal army, staged a successful coup and named himself the new ruler. Like the first emperor of the dynasty, Sima Lun granted titles to several thousands of his followers. As a result, the court soon ran out of the supply of official seals needed for all those appointments and the sable used to decorate the hats of royal officers.
To solve this unexpected problem, the emperor decided to use white-painted wooden plates to substitute for metal seals and dog tails to replace the fur of sable. People immediately began to ridicule the makeshift insignias of the imperial court by coining the phrase "substituting sable with dog tails."
Although the Western Jin Dynasty was ill-fated and short-lived, it did leave behind a lasting legacy as the saying about "dog tails" still lives on in the Chinese language today.
This idiom is now used most often to criticize those who create a deplorable sequel to a master piece.
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