文人相轻 — “Literary figures or scholars often look down upon each other”
文人相轻 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Literary figures or scholars often look down upon each other”. Finding fault with one another's works or abilities. Literally, “Literary people mutually disparage”.
文人相轻 Pronunciation and Pinyin
文人相轻 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 文人相轻
Origin and Story of 文人相轻
During the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Lei composed a poem and sent it to Su Dongpo for review.
Su Dongpo laughed, remarking, "Zhao Dun by the sky is formidable, and the Right Army General in the water is sound asleep. This is like stewing Wang Xizhi in hot soup."
Unconvinced, Zhang Lei also pointed out Su Dongpo's improper use of names in his poem, to which Su replied that Zhang should go debate with Cao Cao.
This anecdote perfectly illustrates Cao Pi's observation in his "Dian Lun" (Disquisitions): "Literary figures tend to belittle one another; it has been so since ancient times."
Idioms Related to 文人相轻
More idioms starting with 文
- wén文bù不jiā加diǎn点write fluently without revision
- wén文bù不duì对tí题irrelevant to the topic
- wén文bù不jìn尽yì意words cannot fully express the meaning
- wén文dōng东wǔ武xī西civil officials east, military west
- wén文sī丝bù不dòng动absolutely still
- wén文rén人mò墨shì士literati and scholars
- wén文rén人mò墨kè客literary figures and calligraphers
- wén文rén人xué学shì士men of letters and scholars
- wén文rén人wú无xíng行Literati often lack moral integrity
- wén文rén人yǎ雅shì士refined scholars and literati
- wén文cóng从zì字shùn顺writing that flows smoothly
- wén文yǐ以zài载dào道literature conveys moral principles
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Open the tool →Questions about 文人相轻
What does 文人相轻 mean?
文人相轻 (wén rén xiāng qīng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Literary figures or scholars often look down upon each other”.
How do you pronounce 文人相轻?
文人相轻 is pronounced wén rén xiāng qīng in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 文人相轻 literally mean?
Literally, 文人相轻 means “Literary people mutually disparage”. It is used to mean “Literary figures or scholars often look down upon each other”.
Where does 文人相轻 come from?
文人相轻 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 文人相轻?
指文人之间互相看不起。