Interpreting Commonly Misunderstood Chinese Four-Character Idioms (Chengyu)

There are many Chinese idioms that are easily misunderstood. Let us attempt to interpret several of them:

(1) 差強人意 (chā qiáng rén yì)

This idiom comes from the Book of the Later Han · Biography of Wu Han:

“When the generals saw that the battle situation was unfavorable, many became fearful and lost their composure. Wu Han alone remained calm and composed, arranging and sharpening weapons while inspiring the officers and soldiers. The emperor at that time sent someone to observe what the Grand Marshal was doing. The messenger returned and reported that he was preparing instruments for attack and battle. The Emperor then sighed and said: ‘Duke Wu is 差強人意, like a state capable of standing against an enemy nation.’”

Duke Wuhan

From the original text, its original meaning can be understood as: striving to change another person’s opinion and guiding it toward a beneficial and correct direction. This is not the meaning commonly used today: “still somewhat short of being satisfactory.” This misunderstanding arises because the character “差”, in bronze inscriptions and small seal script, did not originally mean “difference.” Rather, it referred to rubbing wheat ears by hand or with tools to thresh the grain. Therefore, “差 (chā)” is the original form of “搓 (cuō, rub with hands)”, and the two are related as ancient and modern forms of the same character. Consequently, this character should be pronounced cuō rather than chā. Here it may be interpreted as: repeatedly correcting. Thus, the idiom as a whole may be translated as: “Repeatedly correcting another person’s mistaken opinions in order to guide them toward a favorable direction.”

To be continued.