東施效顰 & Idioms with directions (Idiom)

Last week we talked about 西施(xi shi), and today I’m gonna introduce her opposite, 東施(dong shi) to you.

You’ve known that 西施 was a beauty, who had a heart condition. When she had a fit, she touched her chest with her hand, wincing and frowning from her pain, which made her even more beautiful. It was called 西施捧心(xi shi peng3 xin)

Seeing this,東施, probably a fictional character and as her name東, the east, suggested , was quite the opposite of 西施, the west. She was extremely ugly. She especially looked so when she tried to imitate 西施’s act of frowning from pain. So when we’re referring to those who try to imitate others, only to end up exposing their weaknesses, we’ll use the idiom東施效顰(dong shi xiao4 ping2). 效 means mimic, imitate, while 顰means frown.

Now you know 東the east, and 西 the west. What about the south and the north? I might give you the two directions by introducing the idiom 南轅北轍 (nan2 yuan2 bei3 che4) 南 is the south while 北, the north.轅 is the wood put by the sides of the horses to pull the coach. 轍 is the tracks of the wheels. If you want to go to the south, but your coach is bound for the north, will you go to the destination? No. This is used to refer to the situation when what you do is the opposite of what you wish. Or sometimes it is used to describe the huge gap or differences between two things.

When a corps or a team is defeated in a battle or a game, we’ll use the term 敗北(bai4 bei3) Why the north? In ancient times, south was the direction for the emperors or temples. The emperors’ palaces or seats all faced south. Those who were defeated in the battle had to turn their back and ran to the north. That’s why we say敗北

And for the teachers, they were called 西席(xi xi2) , to be the opposite of the host, 東道主(dong dao4 zhu3) Since the seat for the host was in the east, the seats for the guests would be the west. To show respect for teachers, they would be seated in the west.

If you know how to play Majung 麻將, you’ll definitely remember the characters of the four directions, because they are part of the tiles. And each round of the game is represented by a “wind” 風(feng)of a direction. After the four directions go through a turn, the four people have to change their seats and start all over. We call this 搬風(ban feng), “move/shift the wind.” This Majung term is used in our life too.

For example, when a new mayor takes the office, there might be some major shits of the personnel. We will call this 人事大搬風(ren2 shi4 da4 ban feng)

東=东

敗北=败北

麻將=麻将

搬風=搬风