班門弄斧(bānnònglòngfǔ)
班 Ban (Lu Ban) [bān] | 門 door [nòng] | 弄 to play [lòng] | 斧 ax [fǔ] |
To flaunt one`s proficiency in front of an expert. Teach a dog to bark
During the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644) period in China, there was a poet named Mei Zhi Huan who once visited the tomb of Li Po, one of the greatest poets in history. Li`s tomb attracted quite a few people, especially admirers and renowned poets.
When Mei arrived at the tomb, he found many poems inscribed around the tomb. What surprised -- perhaps shocked -- him was that the poems were all badly written and made no sense.
"How dare people leave all these stupid poems here in front of Li Po?" said Mei furiously, then wrote his own, as well, near the tomb:
"There is a pile of soil at Cai Shi (where Li Po`s tomb is located) and by the river, and Li Po`s fame lasts for a thousand years.
"Visitors come to see Li Po and express themselves by writing poems, but they actually `show off their skills of playing with an ax in front of Lu Ban`s door.`"
Who was Lu Ban? He was an unrivalled craftsman who lived during the Spring and Autumn Period (B.C. 422-481) in China. Lu often carried an ax everywhere to make his crafts. Now in China, there are many temples that worship Lu Ban.
So, saying "showing off their skills of playing with an ax in front of Lu Ban`s door" means "to flaunt one`s proficiency in front of an expert."
Korean
班門弄斧(반문농부) |
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