an ant trying to shake a tree-ridiculously overrating oneself
Shake the tree is a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is h à NSH à P í f ú, which means the big ant who wants to shake the big tree. It is a metaphor for those who overestimate themselves. It comes from the poem Diao Zhang Ji by Han Yu of Tang Dynasty.
Analysis of Idioms
[synonyms] shake the tree and [rhyme words] transform the people into the common customs, the old family, the local customs, the burnt books and scholars, be an apprentice with the ancient times, restore the public and break the feet, enter the country and ask for the common customs, return to the truth and return to nature, have different customs in a hundred miles, and run in the rivers and lakes in a thousand miles
The origin of Idioms
It's ridiculous to shake a big tree. Han Yu's poem Diao Zhang Ji in Tang Dynasty
Idiom story
In the Tang Dynasty, shortly after the death of Li Bai and Du Fu, some people slandered their works. Han Yu was very dissatisfied with this, so he wrote a poem to his friend tiaozhangji: "Li Bai and Du Fu's articles are brilliant, but they don't know how stupid they are. It's ridiculous to slander them, to shake the tree, and not to measure themselves." Zhang Ji agreed.
Idiom usage
It's hard to resist the mantis. It's hard to shake the tree. It's hard to get away from the camp. Hounanke fatan by hongjianyuan in Qing Dynasty
an ant trying to shake a tree-ridiculously overrating oneself
without wavering to one side or the other - bù piān bù dǎng
It's hard for people to go to heaven - jiǎn rén shàng tiān
be overwhelmed by an unexpected favour - bèi chǒng ruò jīng