Knock the bell with a bell

Knock the bell with a bell

Y ǐ t í NGK ò uzhen ō ng: the original meaning is that the volume of the clock is high, so if you use the straw to knock, you can't make it sound as it should. The latter refers to a person with shallow knowledge asking for advice from a person with profound knowledge. It comes from Dong Fangshuo's answer to guest's difficulty in Han Dynasty.

Idiom explanation

Pronunciation y ǐ t í NGK ò UZH ō ng

Explanation: grass stem. The original meaning is that the volume of the clock is high, and if you use the straw to knock, you can't make it sound as it should. The latter refers to a person with shallow knowledge asking for advice from a person with profound knowledge.

Idioms and allusions

Source: Dong Fangshuo's answer to the guest's difficulty in Han Dynasty: "how can you see the sky through a tube, measure the sea through a Li, and strike the bell through a bell? How can you understand its coherence, study its literary theory, and pronounce its sound?"

For example: today, if you want to be of high quality and virtuous, but you are afraid that the language will be superficial, you can't avoid "beating the bell with a bell", and you are so abrupt that you don't dare to ask for advice! (Chapter 16 of Jing Hua Yuan by Li Ruzhen in Qing Dynasty)

Analysis of Idioms

Synonym: strike a bell with a pen

Grammatical usage: used as predicate and attribute; with derogatory meaning