名落孫山

名落孫山

Chinese

		name; fame; to describe name; fame; to describe; place	to fall; to drop (behind); leave behind	Sun Shan (person's name)
trad. (名落孫山)		名	落	孫山
simp. (名落孙山)		名	落	孙山
Literally: “to fall behind Sun Shan (who ranked last on the admitted candidates)”.

Etymology

A story during the Song dynasty:

吳人孫山，滑稽才子也。赴舉他郡，鄉人托以子偕往。鄉人子失意，山綴榜末。先歸，鄉人問其子得失，山曰：「解名盡處是孫山，賢郎更在孫山外。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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吴人孙山，滑稽才子也。赴举他郡，乡人托以子偕往。乡人子失意，山缀榜末。先归，乡人问其子得失，山曰：“解名尽处是孙山，贤郎更在孙山外。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Song dynasty, poet Fan Gongcheng (范公偁), 《過庭錄》

Wú rén Sūn Shān, huájī cáizǐ yě. Fù jǔ tā jùn, xiāngrén tuō yǐ zǐ xié wǎng. Xiāngrén zǐ shīyì, Shān zhuì bǎngmò. Xiān guī, xiāngrén wèn qí zǐ déshī, Shān yuē: “Jièmíng jìnchù shì Sūn Shān, xiánláng gèng zài Sūn Shān wài.” [Pinyin]

Sun Shan, a talented and humorous scholar from the Wu region, went to a different prefecture for the imperial examination. A fellow villager sent his son to go with Sun for the exam. When exam results were announced, the son of the fellow villager failed to make it in the list of successful candidates, while Sun Shan was the last name on the list. When they returned, the villager asked Sun how his son had performed, and Sun replied with a poem:
　My humble name appeared at the bottom of the list of successful candidates,
　While your dear son ranked behind me.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): míngluòsūnshān

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄌㄨㄛˋ ㄙㄨㄣ ㄕㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ming⁴ lok⁶ syun¹ saan¹
• Min Nan (Teochew, Peng'im): mian⁵ loh⁸ seng¹ suan¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: míngluòsūnshān
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄌㄨㄛˋ ㄙㄨㄣ ㄕㄢ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: míngluòsunshan
    • Wade–Giles: ming²-lo⁴-sun¹-shan¹
    • Yale: míng-lwò-swūn-shān
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mingluohsuenshan
    • Palladius: минлосуньшань (minlosunʹšanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miŋ³⁵ lwɔ⁵¹ swən⁵⁵ ʂän⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: ming⁴ lok⁶ syun¹ saan¹
    • Yale: mìhng lohk syūn sāan
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ming⁴ lok⁹ syn¹ saan¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ming⁴ log⁶ xun¹ san¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɪŋ²¹ lɔːk̚² ʃyːn⁵⁵ saːn⁵⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: mian⁵ loh⁸ seng¹ suan¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: miâⁿ lo̍h sṳng suaⁿ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mĩã⁵⁵⁻¹¹ loʔ⁴⁻² sɯŋ³³⁻²³ sũã³³/

Idiom

名落孫山

1. (figuratively) to fail an exam; to fall behind (in a competition)