Chinese Idiom 画饼充饥 Huàbĭngchōngjī

画饼充饥
Huàbĭngchōngjī
To draw a cake to satisfy hunger

Chinese Stories-- yăn ĕr dào líng
三国时代，魏国有个叫卢毓的人，很小的时候就失去了父母和两个哥哥。卢毓从此辛苦
Sānguó shídài, wèiguó yŏu gè jiào Lú Yù de rén, hĕn xiăo de shíhou jiù shīqù le fùmŭ hé liăng gè gēge. Lú Yù cóngcĭ xīnkŭ
工作，除了照顾哥哥们的家人外，自己还努力读书，受到大家的赞许。后来，卢毓做了官，
gōngzuò, chú le zhàogù gēge men de jiārén wài, zìjĭ hái nŭlì dúshū, shòudào dàjiā de zànxŭ. Hòulái, Lú Yù zuò le guān,
仍然勤恳工作，经常给皇帝提出好建议，得到皇帝的信任。那时候，朝廷选拔
réngrán qínkĕn gōngzuò, jīngcháng gĕi huángdì tíchū hăo jiànyì, dédào huángdì de xìnrèn. Nà shíhou, cháotíng xuănbá
官吏，一般都是由有名望的人推荐，而推荐的人，一般又只在有名望的人里考虑。其实，
guānlì, yībān dōu shì yóu yŏu míngwàng de rén tuījiàn, ér tuījiàn de rén, yībān yòu zhĭ shì zài yŏu míngwàng de rén lĭ kăolǜ. Qíshí,
好多有名望的人只是嘴上能说，并不会干实际的事，因此，皇帝很不满。有一天，
hăoduō yŏu míngwàng de rén zhĭshì zuĭ shàng néng shuō, bìng búhuì gàn shíjì de shì, yīncĭ, huángdì hĕn bùmăn. Yŏu yì tiān,
皇帝准备选拔一个有才能的人，并要卢毓推荐，还说选择人才不能光找有
huángdì zhŭnbèi xuănbá yí gè yŏu cáinéng de rén, bìng yào Lú Yù tuījiàn, hái shuō xuănzé réncái bùnéng guāng zhăo yŏu
名声的人，名声只不过是画出来的一张饼，只能看，不能吃的。后来，人们
míngshēng de rén, míngshēng zhĭ bú guò shì huà chū lái de yì zhāng bĭng, zhĭ néng kàn, bù néng chī de. Hòulái, rénmen
就用这个成语比喻自己安慰自己，不能解决实际问题的方法。
jiù yòng zhè ge chéngyŭ bĭyù zìjĭ ānwèi zìjĭ, bù néng jiĕjué shíjì wèn tí de fāngfă.

English Translation
Lu Yu lived in the Kingdom of Wei during the Three Kingdoms periods. He was orphaned at the age of ten. So he undertook the task of supporting his sister-in-law and nephew through a period of extreme hardship. Meanwhile, he also studied hard. He was praised all around for his noble deeds and depth of knowledge. Later he became an official and still worked hard and put forth valuable advice to the emperor, so the emperor placed great trust in him. At that time, the selection process of government officials depended on the recommendation of powerful and influential men. These men would always recommend famous persons who were all mouth and no action which displeased the emperor. One time, the emperor asked Lu Yu to recommend an official and said to him: "the selection of government officials should not rely solely on one's fame which is just like a cake drawn on the ground, while it may be good to look at it does not satisfy one's hunger." This story gave rise to the idiom "draw a cake to satisfy hunger. ". Now it is used to describe someone who uses fantasy to satisfy oneself and means that empty reputation is of no practical value.

Example
你这种做法只是画饼充饥，没有任何实际作用。
Nĭ zhè zhŏng zuòfă zhĭshì huàbĭngchōngjī, méiyŏu rènhé shíjì zuòyòng.
Your action is just like drawing a cake to satisfy hunger, which has no practical effect.