Play the lute to a cow
　　In ancient time, there lived a musician named Gong Mingyi. He was very good at playing the Zheng, a plucked string instrument. But he also behaved foolishly sometimes.
　　One day, he saw a cow eating grass in the field near his house. He was inspired by the scene and ran outside to play a tune fo

　　Look for a noble steed according to its picture
　　Bo Le was a famous horse-judging master. He wrote a book titled Xiang Ma Jing (classics of how to judge a horse) to tell people the way of recognizing good horses. It writes, "A good horse is with wide forehead, bulging eyes and round hoofs."
　　One day, the son of Bo Le

　　Make three calls at the thatched cottage
　　In the third century, China was divided into three kingdoms: Wei in the north, Shu in the southwest and Wu in the southeast. Shu was a weak state. The head of Shu, Liu Bei, was searching for talents everywhere for the kingdom. He heard of a very wise and knowledgeable man called Zhuge

　　Extreme Joy Begets Sorrow
　　Chunyu Kun lived in the state of Qi during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). He was wise, humorous and eloquent. He skillfully advised the king on many occasions and successfully went to many states as an envoy.
　　In the year 349 BC, the State of Chu dispatched a large force to attack Q

　　Bring the dying back to life
　　Long long ago, there was a famous doctor named Bian Que who usually traveled everywhere to collect medicine to cure patients.
　　One day, he heard about the sudden death of the prince of the State of Guo when he was passing the country. He inquired about the case of the prince from an offic

　　The horse which does harm to the herd-A black sheep
　　It was about four thousand years ago. Huangdi (Yellow Emperor)-the first legendary ruler in China went to the countryside to visit an old friend with his entourage. They met a boy keeping watch over a herd of horses on their way.
　　Huangdi asked the boy, "Do you know

　　A Roc's flight of ten thousand li-A bright future
　　In the Chinese classic 《Chuangtze》, there is a legend like this:
　　Once upon a time, a gigantic fish named Kun lived in the northern sea. No one knew how large it actually was. This fish could change itself into the enormous bird called Peng (roc), measuring thousands

 
　　Do not burn you house to get rid of a mouse
　　There is a story in "Hanshu" telling of a rich man, who being a lover of s and had a large collection. Among them was a rare vase made of jade. The vase of exquisite workmanship and of historical value and he loved it dearly. One night he noticed a mouse passing near the precious v

 
　　Be there just to make up the number
　　During the Warring States Period (475-221BC), the King of the State of Qi was very fond of listening to yu ensembles. He often got together 300 yu players to form a grand music. The king treated his musician very well. A man named Nanguo heard about that and he managed to become a member o

 
　　Give up halfway
　　During the Warring States Period (475-221BC), there was a man called Yue Yangzi in State Yue. One day he saw a piece of gold on the road and picked it up. He took it home and gave it to his wife. But his wife was not happy. The virtuous woman said, "I hear that a man of morality doesn't drink a thief's water

 
　　The plum tree sacrifices itself for the peach tree-Sacrifice oneself for another person
　　This idiom comes from a old folk song. The last two stanzas go like this:
　　One family has five brothers, all serving to a minister as attendants. Every five days, they go back home for a reunion, decorating their horses and garme

　　A broken mirror joined together
　　During the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589), there lived a beautiful, intelligent princess name Lechang in the State Chen. She and her husband Xu Deyan loved each other dearly. But before long their country was in danger of being invaded by the troops of the Sui Dynasty. Princess Lecha

 
　　A bird startled by the mere twang of a bow-string
　　During the time of the Warring States (475-221 BC)， there lived a well-known archer named Geng Ying whose art in shooting was excelled by none at his time.
　　One day, as he was standing by the side of the King of Wei, a flock of swan geese were flying over. With confi

　　Give the wrong-doer a way out
　　Beginning with Yu the Great, the Xia Dynasty had lasted about four hundred years before Jie became the supreme ruler.
　　And that was in the 18th century BC. Jie was extremely tyrannical and dissolute. This aroused great resentment among the people. Tang, the Chief of the tribe Shang took