难兄难弟 — Chinese Idiom
难兄难弟 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to people who have shared difficult experiences or are in the same predicament; fellow sufferers or partners in adversity. It can also refer to two people who are very similar in character, often in a negative way, or who are equally remarkable in their field, making it hard to distinguish who is superior”.
难兄难弟 Pronunciation and Pinyin
难兄难弟 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 难兄难弟
Origin and Story of 难兄难弟
In Yingchuan lived a man named Chen Yan, who was studious from a young age and handled matters fairly. When he became a county magistrate, he was even more honest and devoted to public service, earning the profound respect of the common people.
His elder son was Yuanfang, and his younger son was Jifang; both also possessed high moral character. Later, Yuanfang was appointed as a minister (Shizhong) by the imperial court, and though they wanted him to serve as Minister of Education (Situ), he declined. The court then made him the Director of the Imperial Secretariat (Shangshu Ling).
Because of the extremely high reputations of Chen Yan, Yuanfang, and Jifang, their images were painted on the city walls of Yuzhou at that time, so that the common people could learn from their virtues.
Yuanfang had a son named Changwen, and Jifang had a son named Xiaoxian. One day, they began to argue about their fathers' merits, each claiming his own father had greater achievements. Unable to resolve the dispute, they went together to ask their grandfather, Chen Yan, to make a judgment.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Yan told his two grandsons, 'It is difficult to determine who is the elder brother (Yuanfang) and difficult to determine who is the younger brother (Jifang). Both their merits are equally high, making it truly hard to distinguish between superior and inferior!' The two grandsons left satisfied.
Idioms Related to 难兄难弟
Antonyms of 难兄难弟
More idioms starting with 难
- nán难shàng上jiā加nán难difficulty upon difficulty
- nán难hū乎wéi为qíng情feel awkward or embarrassed
- nán难hū乎wéi为jì继Difficult to sustain or carry on
- nán难hū乎qí其nán难extremely difficult
- nán难yú于shàng上tiān天harder than ascending to heaven
- nán难yú于shàng上qīng青tiān天harder than reaching the sky
- nán难yú于qǐ启chǐ齿hard to speak out
- nán难yǐ以wéi为qíng情too embarrassed to refuse
- nán难yǐ以wéi为jì继hard to sustain
- nán难yǐ以qǐ启chǐ齿hard to say
- nán难yǐ以zhì置xìn信hard to believe
- nán难yǐ以nì逆liào料difficult to foresee
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Open the tool →Questions about 难兄难弟
What does 难兄难弟 mean?
难兄难弟 (nán xiōng nán dì) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to people who have shared difficult experiences or are in the same predicament; fellow sufferers or partners in adversity. It can also refer to two people who are very similar in character, often in a negative way, or who are equally remarkable in their field, making it hard to distinguish who is superior”.
How do you pronounce 难兄难弟?
难兄难弟 is pronounced nán xiōng nán dì in Mandarin Chinese.
Where does 难兄难弟 come from?
难兄难弟 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 难兄难弟?
指共过患难的人或彼此处于同样困境的人。