act in undue confidence of one 's own ability and look down upon others

act in undue confidence of one 's own ability and look down upon others

As a Chinese idiom, the Pinyin is sh ì C á I à ow ù, which means to be proud and arrogant by virtue of one's own talents, and to despise others also means to be arrogant. It comes from the biography of Xiao Zixian, a southern historian.

The origin of Idioms

In the biography of Xiao Zixian in the southern history, it is said that "to be proud of one's talent, one should be proud of one's posthumous title."

Idiom usage

It refers to arrogance, with derogatory meaning. [example] in Tang Dynasty, Xue Chengzhou Zhaowei was the son of Bao Xun. There is also father's wind. Song sun Guangxian's BEIMENG Suoyan Volume 4

Idioms and allusions

Xiao Zixian was born in the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty. He was the official of the state, the son of the state, the Minister of wine, and the Minister of the Ministry of official affairs. He is very learned, but he has a lot of conceit and talent. There are few people he can look up to. Usually, when I see officials at all levels, I never answer them. I just wave a fan. But the emperor respected him very much. When he was 49 years old, he was ill and died. Emperor Jian Wen spoke highly of him and ordered to mourn for him. When he was about to be buried, his family asked for his posthumous title, and the emperor issued an imperial edict that "he should be proud of his talent, and his posthumous title should be arrogant." "Be proud of talent" is the evaluation of Xiao Zixian by Emperor Wen of Liang Jian, which is still with the meaning of praise, and focuses on his talent and learning. Later, as an idiom, this sentence has been handed down, but it is often used in a derogatory sense, with emphasis on conceit and arrogance.