An Old Horse Knows the Way
| Characters: |
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Pronunciation:
lao(3) ma(3) shi(1) tu(2)
Explanation:
Said of an experienced person who knows how
to deal with different ideas, situations,
and people
Tone:
Neutral
The
Story: In the Spring and Autumn Period,
Duke Huangong of the State of Qi defeated
the states of Shan Rong and Gu Zhu. Gu Zhu
was very far away from Qin, and it was spring
when the army of Qi set off for the war. But
winter had come when they won and returned
home. Therefore the army got lost because
the natural landscape had changed a lot.
At
this point, Guan Zhong, the minister of Qi,
said to Huangong: "An old horse knows
the way it once traveled. Why not use their
wisdom to guide us?" So they picked some
old horses to lead the way. And the Qi army
followed. At last they arrived home safely.
Usage
Example (Pinyin): Ta(1) lao(3) ma(3) shi(1)
tu(2), zhi(3) dao(3) wo(3) men(2)dao(4) le
zheng(4) que(4) de lu(4).
Usage
Example (English translation): Just as
an old horse knows the way, he told us the
correct way to do things.
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.
