The long history of China has given rich resources in language and stories. Chinese Idioms are a perfect combination of both. They usually consist of 4 characters, called 4 character phrase. Many of them are related to interesting stories.
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Here are some examples.
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自相矛盾 His spear against his shield
A man of the state of Chu had a spear and a shield for sale. He was loud in praises of his shield. "My shield is so strong that nothing can pierce it through." He also sang praises of his spear. "My spear is so strong that it can pierce through anything." What would happen, he was asked, if your spear is used to pierce your shield? He was unable to give an answer. It is impossible for the strongest shield to coexist with a spear that finds nothing impenetrable.
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九牛一毛 Unconsequential Like A Single Hair Against Nine Oxes
A single hair against nine oxes. is a Chinese idiom describing something that is very unconsequential. or unimportant as compared to the whole. The idiom comes from the story of Sima Qian. a very important historian in the Western Han Dynasty in the 200 B.C.
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Sima Qian was born in 145 B.C. to a family of historiographers. His father. Sima Tan was a historian too for Emperor Han Wudi. As a young man. Sima Qian travelled the country to study the historical sites and looking for records of important historical figures of the past. Later he himself became an attendant to Emperor Wudi.
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In 99 B.C..Sima Qian got involved in the Li Ling Affair. During this time. the Han Dynasty was in war with the Xiongnu tribes in the North. Li Ling was one of two military officers leading a campaign against the Xiongnu. At first he won some battles. but in one battle. he was defeated by a large number of enemies and were held captive. Emperor Han Wudi attributed the defeat to Li Ling.
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While all the officials in the government condemned Li Ling for the defeat. Sima Qian was the only person who defended Li Ling.He argued Li Ling`s 5.000 soldiers has fought the 80.000 strong Xiongnu cavalry for 8 days and Li Ling was taken captive until all his soldiers died when their food and arrows were finished. This angered the emperor enormously.
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Subsequently. he was put to prision and was given the most humiliating punishment. He thought of committing suicide but felt his death under the circumstances would be unconsequential; just like a single hair as against the whole from nine oxes. He decided to live with humiliation and finish the recount of history that he was working on. He put this thoughts into a letter to one of his close friends. from this letter. comes the idiom. ``a single hair as against nine oxes``.
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So he continued to write Shiji. which was finally accomplished in 91 B.C.. It has since become one of the most important works on ancient Chinese history.
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四面楚歌 Songs of Chu on All Fronts
　　Once, the leader of the kingdom of Chu()楚, Xiang Yu(项羽) (B.C.232-B.C.202) and his army were under siege from Liu Bang (B.C.256-B.C.195), a future emperor of the Western Han (西汉)(206BC-25AD).
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　　Like many a great man of ancient Chinese reportage, Liu Bang had one very able adviser in Zhang Liang. It was Zhang who had the idea of ordering Liu's soldiers to sing songs every night. But not just any old tune. The songs had to be native to the kingdom of Chu. Xiang Yu's soldiers mostly hailed from Chu. The songs not only made the men homesick, but created the fear that countless defeated brothers-at-arms had gone over to the other side.
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　　One night, Xiang Yu himself started listening closely to the songs and gradually fell prey to the feeling his entire homeland must have been razed by Liu Bang. Overcome with emotion, he killed himself by the banks of the Wujiang River.
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　　Since then, this idiom has been used to refer to a person suffering in isolation.