Chinesetolearn ♫ learn Mandarin in a fun way ♫

Today, our Chinese class student Cam asked me something about Chinese Parrot ducks; I was clueless about what parrot ducks he was talking about, so I asked him to write down the word on the whiteboard. At the same time, Daniel reminded me that it is the word -paradox – as I explained to him before about the shield and spear idiom. So, yes, it is not “parrot ducks” as I had in my mind when I first heard it. See, it is easy to get confused if we just suddenly heard one sentence out of blue. So, it is OK, if you don’t understand the Chinese at the first time or the second time when people said about something, just ask them to repeat it and make sure you understand finally. This is why I am writing this post now, and Cam, you need to remember to write a comment.

Chinese idiom – How to say ” His report is self-contradictory” in Chinese: Ta1 de5 bao4 gao4 zi4 xiang1 mao2 dun4. 他的报告自相矛盾。Ta1 de5 (他的 possessive pronoun, his) bao4 gao4 ( 报告 noun, report) zi4 (自 pronoun, self) xiang1 (相mutually, adverb) mao2 dun4 (矛 noun, spear, 盾 noun, shield, here mao2 dun4 function as verbs and mean contradicting each other).

自相矛盾 is a famous Chinese idiom. Chinese Idioms or Cheng2 yu3 成语 are short sayings usually consisting of four characters. Chinese idioms are mostly derived from ancient literature, myths, stories or historical facts and other sources. The meaning of a Chinese idiom usually conveys far more than the sum of the meanings carried by the four characters. Unless you know the story behind it and its common usage, otherwise China idioms will look like Greek to you and sound like random phrases or word puzzle. For Chinese idioms do not follow the usual grammatical structure and syntax of the modern spoken language, and are highly compact. There are about 5,000 Chinese idioms, though some dictionaries list over 20,000.

The Chinese idiom 自相矛盾 zi4 xiang1 mao2 dun4 goes like: During the Chinese Warring States Period (476-221BC), in the state of Chu, there was a weapon peddler who made shields and spears and sold them in a market.

One day, in the market, in order to attract attentions, he boasted of his （dun4 盾）shield:”My shield is so solid that no spears （矛 mao2) can pierce it.” As he expected, hearing his words, people in the market gathered around his booth.

He continued his bragging: “My spear is so strong that it can pierce through any shield.”

While he was proudly advertising his products, a wise man in the crowd shot him a question “what would happen if you use your shield against your spear?”

Hearing the words, the peddler was at a loss and could not gather a suitable reply, and then the crowd broke up laughing and dispersed.

Most of time, Chinese idioms convey implicit moral lessons or advocate ethic value. For learning Cheng2 yu3 is a great way to understand Chinese thinking and cultural background.

自相矛盾 these four words literally mean: to pit one’s own spear against one’s own shield. Thus, it means a person or his remark is self-contradictory.

For example: 他说他只喜欢打球。 可是他又说他最爱跳舞。真是自相矛盾啊。
ta1 shuo1 ta1 zhi5 xi3 huan1 da3 qiu2. ke3 shi4 ta1 you4 shuo1 ta1 zui4 ai4 tiao4 wu3. zhen1 shi4 zi4 xiang1 mao2 dun4 a.
He said he only likes playing balls. But, he also said that he loves dancing the most. It is really self-contradictory!

Hope you enjoy today’s Chinese idiom, an idiom with paradox in it. Even it is not as interesting or imaginable as parrot ducks, certainly it is lethal enough with all the spears and shields to catch your attention I hope 🙂

This is the closest creature that is related to parrot duck that I found:)