畫虎不成反類狗

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Chinese

draw; picture; painting tiger to not form; to not constitute; unsuccessful wrong side out or up; anti-
kind; type; class
kind; type; class; category; similar; like; to resemble
 
dog
trad. (畫虎不成反類狗) 不成
simp. (画虎不成反类狗) 不成
Literally: “to try to draw a tiger and end up with the likeness of a dog”.

Etymology

First attested in c. 44 C.E., in a letter by Ma Yuan to his nephews Ma Yan and Ma Dun:

季良不得天下輕薄所謂畫虎不成反類狗
季良不得天下轻薄所谓画虎不成反类狗
From: c. 44 CE, 馬援,誡兄子嚴敦書, translation based on Hans Fränkel's version
Xiào Jìliáng bùdé, xiàn wéi tiānxià qīngbó zǐ, suǒwèi huà hǔ bùchéng fǎn lèi gǒu zhě yě.
If you try to model yourselves after Du Jiliang and fail, you will have the misfortune of sinking to the level of notorious playboys, as somebody has said: “If you try to paint a tiger and fail, the picture will look like a dog.”

Later popularized by Cao Zhi in his famous letter to Yang Xiu:

孔璋辭賦司馬長卿不成
孔璋辞赋司马长卿不成
From: c. 217, 曹植,與楊德祖書, translation based on Richard M. W. Ho's version
Yǐ Kǒngzhāng zhī cái, bù xián yú cífù, ér duō zì wèi néng yǔ Sīmǎ Chángqīng tóngfēng, pì huà hǔ bùchéng fǎn wéi gǒu zhě yě.
Kongzhang , despite his talent, is not adroit in rhyme-prose. He, however, often likens his style to that of Sima Xiangru . This is like drawing a tiger so badly that it resembles a dog.

Pronunciation


Idiom

畫虎不成反類狗

  1. synonym of 畫虎不成反類犬 / 画虎不成反类犬 (huà hǔ bùchéng fǎn lèi quǎn)