To be Put in the Attic

Characters:

Pronunciation: Shu(4) Zhi(1) Gao(1) Ge(2)

Explanation: Meaning to neglect somebody or something

The Story: Yu Yi, a general from the Eastern Jin Dynasty was the commander of Wuchang. One day somebody recommended that the two meta-physicists Yin Hao and Du Yi serve as his officials. But Yu Yi thought the two people were just sort of men of talent in name but not in reality and thus should not have important work to do. He said disdainfully: "People like them are useless and can only be tied up in and put in the high attic. They might be useful when the country is peaceful."

Usage Example (Pinyin): Na(4) ben(3) shu(1) bei(4) ta(1) shu(4) zhi(1) gao(1) ge(2) hen(3) chang(2) shi(2) jian(1), ta(1) zao(3) wang(4) le.

Usage Example (English translation): That book was put in the attic for a long time, and he has totally forgotten it.

Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those above where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms newsletter with a good offline study program.