flunk the civil service examination

flunk the civil service examination

Longmen is a Chinese word, Pinyin is p ù s ā IL ó NGM é n, meaning like a fish looking up at the dragon's gate but not going up. It comes from Volume 40 of Taiping Yulan.

The origin of Idioms

Volume 40 of Taiping Yulan quoted Xin's three Qin records: "Hejin is a dragon's gate. The great spirit is still there. It's nine hundred miles to Chang'an. There are thousands of big fish in the river and the sea. They are not allowed to go up, but on the other hand, they are dragons. Therefore, the clouds are raging

Idiom usage

It is not allowed to go up at the gate of the big fish collection in the Yangtze River and the sea; it is the Dragon at the top. Gu Yun: "let's hang our ears and let's go down." (Chu Tan Ji Shi You Liu by Li Zhi of Ming Dynasty)

Analysis of Idioms

Synonym: exposing the gills, dragon's gate antonym: flourishing