All Posts

By Norman Plotkin, CHt There is an ancient elegance in the Chinese language, the ability to compress an entire story, lesson, or philosophy into just four characters. These expressions are known as 成语 (chéngyǔ), literally “formed expressions” or “set phrases.” Most traditional chengyu consist of four Chinese characters, yet behind those four characters may lie a story hundreds or even thousands of years old. They can contain history, mythology, philosophy, humor, tragedy, or