汉语成语 Chinese idioms

Idioms are the fixed words or phrases in language vocabulary. Chinese idioms have fixed structure and version. They express certain meaning, and can be used independently. For example:
　　言简意赅 勇往直前 相反相成 实事求是
　　诲人不倦 经年累月 千钧一发 缘木求鱼
　　削足适履 七手八脚 细大不捐 坐井观天
Most idioms are handed down from ancient generation, so they are different from modern Chinese in wording. Some idioms are from ancient books, some are the shortened form of a sentence, some from daily expressions.

Idiom is a kind of existing words. It is similar to accustomed sayings or proverbs, but not the same. The main difference is that accustomed sayings or proverbs are used in daily conversation, but idioms are used in literature. Besides, in the language form, almost all idioms have four characters and the words positions can not be changed. But the accustomed sayings or proverbs are more relaxed, they are not confined to four characters. For example: “快刀斩乱麻”、“九牛二虎之力”、“驴唇不对马嘴”、“前怕狼，后怕虎”，“百闻不如一见”、“真金不怕火炼”、“有志者事竟成”、“路遥知马力，日久见人心”。

Most idioms have its origin. For example: “狐假虎威”、“ 画蛇添足”originate from Strategies of the Warring States; “刻舟求剑”from Lv Shi Chun Qiu; “破釜沉舟”、“完璧归赵”from book of history; “若纲在纲，有条而不紊”、“举一反三”from The Analects of Confucius;“ 外强中干”from Zuo Zhuan;
“忧心忡忡”from The Book of Poetry etc. Some commonly used 4-words phrase also belongs to idiom. For example: “咬文嚼字”、“拖泥带水”、“阳奉阴违”、“不三不四”、“心直口快” and so on.

Chinese idioms usually compose of 4 characters and only a few are more than that. Such as“五十步笑百步”、“欲速则不达”、“醉翁之意不在酒” etc.

The reason why idioms use 4 characters associates with the sentence structure and the monosyllabic word commonly used in ancient China. Idioms can make a sentence vivider and briefer. It has a function of metaphor or comparison in itself. For example: “阳奉阴违”、“外强中干”、“五光十色”、“一知半解”、“七嘴八舌”、“患得患失”、“不寒而慄”。So, scholars are very careful in using idioms.