Chinese language vocabulary 汉语词汇 走马观花 Zǒu mǎ guān huā

Tánɡcháo zhōnɡqī, yǒuwèi zhùmínɡ de shīrén Mènɡjiāo. Tā chūshēn pínhán, cónɡxiǎojiù qínfèn hàoxué, hěn yǒucáihuá. Dànshì, tāde shìtú què yìzhí hěn búshùnlì, hǎjǐcì cānjiā jìnshì kǎoshì dōu luòlebǎnɡ. Tā bìnɡ méiyǒu huīxīn, rénɡrán kèkǔ xuéxí. Gōnɡyuán 797 nián, Mènɡjiāo yòu cānjiā le yícì jìnshì kǎoshì, zhècì, tā zhōnɡyú kǎoshànɡle, Mènɡjiāo ɡāoxìnɡjíle. Yúshì tā chuānshànɡ zhǎnxīnde yīfu, zhāshànɡ hónɡhuā, qízhemǎ, zài chánɡānchénɡlǐ jìnqínɡdì yóulǎn. Bìnɡxiěxiàle “chūn fēnɡ dé yì mǎ tí jí, yí rì kàn jìn chánɡ ān huā” de qiānɡǔmínɡjù.
唐朝中期，有位著名的诗人孟郊。他出身贫寒，从小就勤奋好学，很有才华。但是，他的仕途却一直很不顺利，好几次参加进士考试都落了榜。他并没有灰心，仍然刻苦学习。公元797年，孟郊又参加了一次进士考试，这次，他终于考上了，孟郊高兴极了。于是他穿上崭新的衣服，扎上红花，骑着马，在长安城里尽情地游览。并写下了 “春风得意马蹄疾，一日看尽长安花”的千古名句。
In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, there was a famous poet named Meng Jiao who was born poor and studied hard when he was little. Although he was talented, he was not successful in the official examinations. He failed imperial examinations several times, but he never gave up. In 797 AD, he took the exam again. Finally, he passed. Delighted, he put on new clothes, tied on red flowers and toured Chang’an City on horseback to his heart’s content. He  wrote the famous saying, “春风得意马蹄疾，一日看尽长安花”.

Explanation：
贫寒:(pínhán) adj. poor
仕途:(shìtú) n. official career
进士:(jìnshì ) n. a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations
落榜:(luò băng) v. to flunk a competitive examination for a job or school admission
灰心:(huīxīn) v. to lose heart
Meanings:
“Zǒu mǎ” zhǐ qízhemǎ pǎo. Gǔdàide “zǒu” shì “pǎo” deyìsi. “zǒu mǎ ɡuān huā” zhǐ qízhemǎ kànhuā. Xínɡrónɡ shìqínɡ rúyì, xīnjìnɡ yúkuài. Hòulái zhǐ cūlüèdì kànyíxià huòzhě shì zǒuɡuò chǎnɡ, búshì hěnzǐxì.
“走马”指骑着马跑。古代的“走”是“跑”的意思。“走马观花”指骑着马看花。形容事情如意，心境愉快。后来指粗略地看一下或者是走过场，不是很仔细。
“走马” means to ride on a horse. The ancient meaning of “走” （walking）is “跑”(running). “走马观花” literally means to see flowers while riding on a horse. It describes something that happens as one wishes and makes him happy. It later also came to mean to make a cursory observation, or to inattentively go through the motions of doing something.
Sentences
1、Wǒ hěn shēnɡqì tā zhǐshì zǒumǎ ɡuānhuā dì fānlefān wǒde wénzhānɡ, jiùshuō xiědé bùhǎo.
我很生气他只是走马观花地翻了翻我的文章，就说写得不好。
I was angry that he said my article was not good after only skimming through it.
2、Jíshìshànɡ rén tàiduōle, wǒ zhǐshì zǒumǎɡuānhuā dì kànle yíxià, méimǎi shénme.
集市上人太多了，我只是走马观花地看了一下，没买什么。
There were too many people at the fair, so I just took a quick look through it without buying anything.