Chinese language vocabulary 汉语词汇 狗尾续貂 (Gǒuwěi xù diāo)

Jìn Wǔdì de shūshū sī mǎ lún, yěxīn hěn dà, tā chèn Jìn Wǔdì qùshì, guójiā bú gòu wěndìng, jiù hé jǐ gè dàchén mìmóu cuànduó le wángwèi. Dāng shàng huángdì yǐhòu, wèi le lālǒng dàchén, jiāqiáng zìjǐ de tǒngzhì, Sīmǎ Lún kāishǐ húluàn fēngguān, qīnqī péngyǒu, shènzhì shì jiā lǐ de púrén, dōu dāng shàng le dàguān. ànzhào dāngshí de guīdìng, zhèngfǔ guānyuán de màozǐ dōu bìxū zhuāngshì zhēnguì de diāowěi, kěshì yóuyú Sīmǎ Lún fēng de guānyuán shízài tài duō le, quánguó shàngxià gēnběn zhǎo bú dào nà me duō de diāowěi, zuìhòu zhīhǎo yòng kàn qǐlái chà bú duō de gǒu wěibā lái dàitì le.
晋武帝的叔叔司马伦，野心很大，他趁晋武帝去世，国家不够稳定，就和几个大臣密谋篡夺了王位。当上皇帝以后，为了拉拢大臣，加强自己的统治，司马伦开始胡 乱封官，亲戚朋友、甚至是家里的仆人，都当上了大官。按照当时的规定，政府官员的帽子都必须装饰珍贵的貂尾，可是由于司马伦封的官员实在太多了，全国上下 根本找不到那么多的貂尾，最后只好用看起来差不多的狗尾巴来代替了。

Sima Lun, uncle of Sima Yan (Emperor Wu of Jin) was very ambitious. When Emperor Wu died and the country was not stable, he conspired with several ministers to usurp the throne. Upon becoming emperor, in order to manipulate the Cabinet and strengthen his control, he recklessly appointed his relatives, friends and even servants to be officials. According to regulation at that time, the hats of the government officials were to be decorated with precious ferret tails. However, because there were so many officials appointed by Sima Lun, there were not enough tails available. In the end, the ferret tails were replaced with tails of dogs, which looked similar.

Yóuyú Sīmǎ Lún fēng de guānyuán yòu duō yòu bù rénmín bànshì, zhī zhīdào qīyā bǎixìng, yīncǐ ，rénmen jiù yòng “gǒuwěi xùdiāo ”lái fěngcì dāngshí de zhèngfǔ.
由于司马伦封的官员又多又不为人民办事，只知道欺压百姓，因此，人们就用“狗尾续貂”来讽刺当时的政府。

Because the officials appointed by Sima Lun were excessive and did not serve the people, but rather oppressed them, people used “狗尾续貂” to satirize the government at that time.

Words：
野心yěxīn： ambition; careerism（n.）
趁chèn： while; take the chance of（prep.）
去世qùshì： die; pass away（v.）
稳定wěndìng： stable（adj.）
密谋mìmóu： plot; conspire（v.）
篡夺cuànduó： usurp; seize（v.）
拉拢lālǒng： draw sb. over to one's side; cozy up to; rope in（v.）
封fēng： confer (a title, territory, etc.) upon（v.）
仆人púrén： (domestic) servant（n.）
规定guīdìng： rule; provision（n.）
装饰zhuāngshì： ornament; decorate（v/n.）
珍贵zhēnguì： valuable; precious; rare（adj.）
貂尾diāowěi： ferret tail（n.）
代替dàitì： replace（v.）
欺压qīyā： bully and oppress; ride roughshod over’ （v.）
讽刺fěngcì： satirize; mock; make a crack（v.）

Meanings：

续：连接。“狗尾续貂”比喻拿不好的东西接在好的东西后面，致使前后两部分差别很大（多指文学作品），后来也比喻办事能力很差。

续 means connect. “狗尾续貂” means making an unworthy addition to a great work, resulting in a huge difference in the two parts (mostly refers to literature works). Later it became often used as metaphor to describe poor workmanship.

Sentences：

1.Zài hěnduō rén kàn lái , 《Hālìbōtè》de xùjí shì gǒuwěi xùdiāo 。
在很多人看来，《哈利波特》的续集是狗尾续貂。

In many people’s view, the sequel of Harry Potter is a wretched sequel.

2.Nà zuò 17 shìjì de lóufáng fēicháng piāoliàng, kěshì tāmen piān yào zài tā shàngmiàn zài gài yī céng, rènwéi zhèyàng gèng wánměi. Zhēn shì gǒuwěi xùdiāo.
那座17世纪的楼房非常漂亮，可是他们偏要在它上面再盖一层，认为这样更完美。真是狗尾续貂。

The house built in the 17th century was very beautiful. But some insisted on building another floor, thinking that it would make the house more perfect. It was really poor form.