ants on the locust tree

ants on the locust tree

Chinese idiom, Pinyin is m ǎ y ǐ Yu á nhu á I, which means ants climb up and down the tree. Metaphor thinks itself great. It comes from the biography of Nanke prefect by Li Gongzuo of Tang Dynasty.

Idiom usage

It's not easy to talk about how big a country is and how big a tree is. Mao Zedong's Manjianghong and Comrade Guo Moruo

The origin of Idioms

According to the biography of Nanke prefect written by Li Gongzuo of Tang Dynasty, a man named chunyufen once fell asleep against the locust tree in the courtyard. He dreamed that he had been Nanke prefect for 20 years in dahuaan kingdom. He was very distinguished. Later, he was dismissed because he failed to fight with the enemy. Wake up to know is a big dream, the so-called big locust Anguo is just an ant nest under the old locust tree, Nanke county is a small ant hole on the South Branch of the locust tree. "Acacia" is now used to show contempt for the enemy, meaning that the enemy is nothing. Related references are "a dream of Nanke".

Idiom story

It is said that chunyufen, the "knight errant" in Dongping County of the Tang Dynasty, had a sleep under the old Sophora tree in the south of his home. In his dream, he became Nanke's prefect of Huaian country. The king married the little princess to him and lived a very happy life as an official for 20 years. Later, because of Tanluo's attack on Nanke County, he was expelled from Huai'an by the king for his poor defense. He woke up to see that Huai'an was an ant hole under the tree.