Chinese idioms 汉语成语 : 名落孙山 Fall behind Sun Shan

zài wǒɡuó sònɡcháo de shíhòu yǒu yíɡe mínɡjiào sūn shān de cáizǐ
在我国宋朝的时候，有一个名叫孙山的才子，

tā wéirén búdàn yōumò érqiě hěn shànyú shuō xiàohuà
他为人不但幽默，而且很善于说笑话，

suǒyǐ fùjìnde rén jiù ɡěitā qǔle yíɡe huájī cáizǐ de chuòhào

所以附近的人就给他取了一个“滑稽才子”的绰号。

In the Song Dynasty, there was a capable person named Sun Shan. He was not only humorous but also good at cracking jokes, so he was popular nicknamed "funny capable person".

yòuyícì tā hé yíɡe tónɡxiānɡ de érzi yìtónɡ dào jīnɡchénɡ qù cānjiā jǔrén de kǎoshì
有一次，他和一个同乡的儿子一同到京城，去参加举人的考试。

fànɡbǎnɡ de shíhòu suīrán bèi lièzài bǎnɡwén de dàoshù dìyīmínɡ
放榜的时候，虽然被列在榜文的倒数第一名，

dàn rěnrǎn shì bǎnɡshànɡyǒumínɡ
但仍然是榜上有名，

ér nàwèi hé tā yìqǐqùde nàwèi tónɡxiānɡ de érzi què méiyǒu kǎoshànɡ
而那位和他一起去的那位同乡的儿子，却没有考上。

Once he went to the capital city with the son of one of his fellow villagers to take the imperial examinations at the provincial level. When the list of the successful candidates' names was posted up, though Sun Shan was the last on the list, the son of his fellow villager who came with him failed in the competitive examination.

bùjiǔ sūn shān xiān huídào jiālǐ tónɡxiānɡ biàn lái wèntā érzi yǒuméiyǒu kǎoqǔ
不久，孙山先回到家里，同乡便来问他儿子有没有考取。

sūn shān jì bùhǎoyìsi zhíshuō yòu búbiàn yǐnmán
孙山既不好意思直说，又不便隐瞒，

yúshì jiù suíkǒu niànchū liǎnɡjù bùchénɡshī de shījù lái
于是，就随口念出两句不成诗的诗句来：

jièyuán jìnchū shì sūn shān xiánlánɡ ɡènɡzài sūn shān wài
“解元尽处是孙山，贤郎更在孙山外。”

jièyuán jiùshì zhōnɡɡuó kējǔ zhìdu suǒ ɡuīdìnɡ de jùrèn dìyīmínɡ
解元，就是中国科举制度所规定的举人第一名。

ér sūn shān zàishīlǐ suǒwèide jièyuán nǎishì fànzhǐ yìbān kǎoqǔ de jǔrén
而孙山在诗里所谓的“解元”，乃是泛指一般考取的举人。

tā zhèshǒushī quánbù de yìsi shì shuō
他这首诗全部的意思是说：

jǔrén bǎnɡshànɡ de zuìhòu yìmínɡ shìwǒ sūn shān
“举人榜上的最后一名是我孙山，

ér lìnɡlánɡ de mínɡzì háizài wǒ sūn shān de hòumiàn
而令郎的名字却还在我孙山的后面。”

It was not long before Sun Shan went back to his home. His fellow villager came to ask if his son succeeded. Sun Shan found it difficult to tell the father directly nor did he want to withhold the truth, so he blurted out without thinking two verses: "at the end of the Xie Yuan list, there's Sun Shan, your son fell behind Sun Shan". "Xie Yuan" generally means the first candidate succeeding in the imperial examination but here in the poem of Sun Shan, it refers to the successful candidates in general. The meaning of his poem is:"Sun Shan is the last on the successful candidates list, but your son falls behind Sun Shan."

cónɡcǐ rénmén biàn ɡēnjù zhèɡe ɡùshi
从此，人们便根据这个故事，

bǎ tóukǎo xuéxiào huò cānjiā ɡèzhǒnɡ kǎoshì méiyǒu bèi lùqǔ jiàozuò mínɡluòsūnshān
把投考学校或参加各种考试，没有被录取，叫做“名落孙山”。

From this time on, people used this idiom to indicate failing in an examination or competition.