Zhang Huaiqing, the magistrate of Zaoqiang County, was a fame-obsessed man who loved to pass off the works of famous poets as his own. He would take their poems, tweak a few words, and proudly show them off as his creations. Some people, knowing full well they weren't his, would flatter him to win his favor, and he would bask in their praise, utterly delighted.
Once, a renowned scholar named Li Yifu composed a five-character quatrain:
Carving the Moon into a Singing Fan, Cutting Clouds for Dancing Gowns
Admiring Her Own Snow-Like Shadow, She Longs to Return to the Luo River.
After reading this poem, Zhang Huaiqing's hands itched again. He picked up his brush and added two characters to the beginning of each line, turning it into a seven-character quatrain.
"Engraving the Moon on a Fan of Songs" - This phrase, from a Tang Dynasty poem, captures the delicate artistry of a performer who brings beauty to life, much like carving moonlight into a fan. It speaks to the ancient Chinese ideal of transforming fleeting moments into lasting art, a wisdom that reminds us to find elegance in everyday actions.
Her talent was so extraordinary that she could cut clouds to fashion a dancing gown.
Gazing at His Reflection, He Pities His Own Snow-Like Shadow
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, a man named Zaofu served as an imperial advisor
Zhang Huaiqing, a Tang Dynasty official, fancied himself a poet but lacked talent. He would take well-known poems and add two characters to each line, thinking this improved them. One day, after "improving" a famous verse, he proudly copied it out and presented it to friends. A colleague read it aloud, stumbled over the awkward phrasing, and asked, "Zhang, what does this line mean?" Zhang replied confidently, "It's my unique style—adding depth to the classics!" The friend laughed, "You've turned a clear stream into muddy water!" Undeterred, Zhang continued his practice, earning a reputation for ruining good poetry. His name became a byword for clumsy, self-important tampering with art.
Later, people borrowed the literary fame of poet Zhang Changling and scholar Guo Zhengyi to mock him with a couplet, saying Zhang Huaiqing's behavior was like "livingly stripping" and "rawly swallowing" the poems of Wang and Guo.
Later, the idiom "swallowing raw and whole" came to describe the bad habit of mechanically copying others' words. Today, it also refers to blindly accepting or imitating things or ideas without regard for actual circumstances.
Source: *New Anecdotes of the Great Tang*, "Jests and Banter"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "生吞活剥" came to describe how the bad habit of mechanically copying others' words. Today, it also refers to blindly accepting or imitating things or ideas without regard for actual circumstances.