jiǔ bìng chéng yī

experience is the best teacher

直译: Prolonged illness makes a doctor of a patient.

jiǔ wén dà míng

I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time

lè zài qí zhōng

💡 Хийж буй зүйлээсээ өөрөө баяр таашаал олох.

出处: From the Analects, Book 7 (《論語·述而》)

jiǔ niú yī máo

a drop in the bucket

直译: one hair from nine oxen

出处: From Sima Qian's letter to Ren An

xí fēi chéng shì

to be accustomed to mistakes that they instead are regarded as right

shū xiāng mén dì

family of teachers and scholars

直译: family filled up with the aroma of books

shì dào rú jīn

as things stand; currently; getting this far; up to this point

èr zhě bì jū qí yī

it must be one or the other

wǔ yīn bù quán

to be tone-deaf; can't carry a tune

wǔ fēng shí yǔ

favorable weather conditions for farming

直译: It winds every five days and rains every ten days

rén lì huí tiān

to rely on human effort to save a difficult situation

rén qù lóu kōng

deserted

rén shān rén hǎi

💡 Хүн маш олон, уул далай шиг.

出处: A chengyu expressing the idea of "a mountain (山 (shān)) of people (人 (rén)), a sea (海 (hǎi)) of people (人 (rén))".

rén qíng shì gù

💡 Хүмүүсийн хоорондын харилцааны ёс, амьдралын мэдлэг.

rén suǒ gòng zhī

to be known by everyone; to be common knowledge

rén huān mǎ jiào

people bustling and horses neighing: (of a country scene) busy; prosperous

jīn shēng jīn shì

in this lifetime; for the rest of one's life

cóng yī ér zhōng

to be faithful to one's husband and not remarry; to be fully devoted to someone or something

yǐ jiù huàn xīn

💡 Хуучнаа өгөөд шинээр солих.

yǐ lǐ fú rén

💡 Хүч биш, учир зүйгээр хүнийг ятгах.

yǐ shēn shì fǎ

to deliberately violate the law

xiū yǎng shēng xī

to rest and recuperate; to convalesce; (of society) to recover (after a war or upheaval) and regain vitality

nǐ fǎ wǒ xiào

When you talk about the rule of law, I find it ridiculous.

出处: From a quote in an interview with Zhou Weiming, director of a Legislative Affairs Office, condensed to resemble a four-character chengyu (idiom)

biàn yí xíng shì

to act at one's discretion

xìn yǐ wéi zhēn

💡 Худал зүйлийг үнэн гэж итгэх.

xìn kǒu kāi hé

to speak carelessly, rapidly and voluminously like the outflow of river water when the sluice gates are opened; to talk nonsense; to talk at random

jiǎ xì zhēn zuò

to turn a make-believe into reality

直译: what started as pretend became real

jiǎ shǒu yú rén

to rely on or make use of others to get something done or accomplish one's own goals

jiǎ shǒu tā rén

to get one's own task done by somebody else

zuò niú zuò mǎ

to work one's butt off; to work extremely hard; to lower one's dignity to do everything and anything for someone

直译: to be a cow and be a horse

jiàn bù rú fēi

💡 Нисэх мэт хурдан, хөнгөн алхах.

quán xīn quán lì

with all of one's attention and effort

gōng shì gōng bàn

to do official business according to official rules; to handle matters without bias and favouritism

yǎng jiā huó kǒu

to support one's family financially; to provide for one's family

zài xià yī chéng

to win again after winning

bīng tiān xuě dì

landscape covered in snow and ice; covered in snow and ice; extremely cold

直译: icy skies and snow(-covered) ground

bīng xuě cōng míng

extremely intelligent

直译: as intelligent as ice and snow

出处: From a poem by Du Fu

lěng lěng qīng qīng

💡 Хүн амьтангүй, уйтгартай, эзгүй байх.

出处: AABB-type reduplication of 冷清 (lěngqīng).

chū qí bù yì

💡 Хүнийг бэлтгэлгүй байхад нь гэнэт довтлох.