冬烘先生 — “An old-fashioned, pedantic, and somewhat obtuse scholar or person”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 冬烘先生?

指昏庸浅陋的知识分子。

冬烘先生 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “an old-fashioned, pedantic, and somewhat obtuse scholar or person”. A fuddy-duddy with outdated ideas and limited understanding.

Frequency

冬烘先生 Pronunciation and Pinyin

冬烘先生 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
冬	dōng	5	winter
烘	hōng	10	warm or dry with heat
先	xiān	6	First, before, or ancestors
生	sheng	5	to be born, grow, or live

Example Sentence with 冬烘先生

他虽然读了一辈子书，但思想非常僵化，就像个冬烘先生，对新事物一概不接受。

Although he has read books his whole life, his thinking is very rigid, just like a fuddy-duddy, rejecting all new things.

Origin and Story of 冬烘先生

During the Tang Dynasty, the chief examiner Zheng Xun was grading exam papers. He came across Yan Biao's paper and, upon a first read, found nothing particularly outstanding. However, he thought Yan Biao was a descendant of Yan Zhenqing, a highly respected loyal official, and decided that this descendant of a loyal figure should be made the Zhuangyuan (top scholar).

On the day of the imperial audience where successful candidates expressed their gratitude, Zheng Xun realized his mistake in identity.

Later, people commented, 'The chief examiner's mind was too 'Dong Hong,' mistaking Yan Biao for Duke Lu (Yan Zhenqing).'