Quotable Chéngyǔ / 可引用的成语 / 可引用的成語

[OldBoring]

4. 靑出於藍 (青出于蓝)

官: Qīng Chū Yú Lán
日: せいしゅつおらん
朝: 청출어람

-- From Xún Zi (《荀子》,〈權學〉)

靑 : Blue
出 : Comes
於 : From
藍 : Indigo

Rough translation: Blue comes from indigo.

About 青出于蓝, here is more food for thought.

[MillMaths]

井底之蛙 jǐng dǐ zhī wā

井 jǐng – well
底 dǐ – bottom
蛙 wā – frog

A frog living at the bottom of a well – a metaphor for an ignorant and narrow-minded person. Such a creature, whose only view of the outside world is the small portion of the sky visible through the well opening, is like the prisoners chained from birth in Plato’s cave, who think the shadows of things are the things themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0H4XRR-rX0