S8E02 | Blue, Blue, My World is Blue
Saying: “the color blue is made out of indigo but is more vivid than indigo”
Pinyin: Qīng Chū Yú Lán
Chinese: 青出于蓝
This time we're featuring another oldie but goodie, Qīng Chū Yú Lán 青出于蓝. Though Xunzi was the inspiration for the chengyu, the tale behind this Chinese Saying comes from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. The longer version of the saying goes 青出于蓝, 而胜于蓝 but we'll just focus on the front four and that's all you need for most situations where you want to remark about a student or apprentice, surpassing their teacher or master.
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Terms in Episode
| Pinyin/Term | Chinese | English/Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Qīng Chū Yú Lán | 青出于蓝 | Blue or blue-green or simply bright blue from dark blue |
| Xúnzǐ | 荀子 | Named, Xun Kuang, 荀況, c. 310 – c. after 238 BCE),better known as Xunzi, was a Chinese philosopher of Confucianism during the late Warring States period. After his predecessors Confucius and Mencius, Xunzi is often ranked as the third great Confucian philosopher of antiquity. |
| Quànxué | 劝学 | The chapter that our chengyu for this time comes from, "Encouraging Learning" from Xúnzǐ’s thirty-two-chapter philosophical work, the Xúnzǐ |
| Qīng | 青 | blue or bluish green, also bright blue |
| Chūyú | 出于 | out of, from |
| Lán | 蓝 | blue or indigo blue |
| Northern and Southern Dynasties Period (Nánběi Cháo) | 南北朝 | A period of political division in China, lasting from 420-589. It followed the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as the latter part of a longer period known as the Six Dynasties (220–589) |
| Kǒng Fán | 孔璠 | A famous scholar of the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period |
| Lǐ Mì | 李谧 | Kong Fan's most prized student |
| Sān rén xíng, bì yǒu wǒ shī | 三人行必有我师 | Out of every three men, at least one can teach me something |
| Qīng chéng lán, lán xiè qīng. Shī hécháng, zài míng jīng | 青成蓝，蓝谢青。师何尝，在明经. | Indigo is made from blue; blue gives way to indigo; The student who knows better becomes the teacher |
| qīng chū yú lán ér shèng yú lán | 青出于蓝, 而胜于蓝 | bright blue comes from blue and even surpasses lán or this case, indigo blue. |
| Chéngyǔ Yánjiū Zhōngxīn | 成语研究中心 | The Teacup Chengyu Research Center, located wherever Emma resides. |
