諺語 · a single proverb
夜郎自大
What does 夜郎自大 (yè láng zì dà) mean?
夜郎自大 (yè láng zì dà) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "Yelang considers itself great." In use it means: Ignorant arrogance. Thinking you are important because you have never seen the wider world. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Monkey.
Literally: "Yelang considers itself great."
The reading
The king of Yelang, a small state, asked the Han envoy: is Han as big as Yelang? He was serious. He had never left his kingdom and assumed it was the centre of the world. The isolation was the problem, not the confidence. Confidence without exposure is a blindfold worn voluntarily.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Records of the Grand Historian 史記 (西南夷列傳)
Sits beside
井底之蛙
jǐng dǐ zhī wā
Someone with an extremely narrow view of the world, who mistakes the small circle of sky above the well for the whole sky.
冰凍三尺，非一日之寒
bīng dòng sān chǐ, fēi yī rì zhī hán
Nothing deep-a skill, a habit, a ruin-forms overnight.
心急吃不了熱豆腐
xīn jí chī bù liǎo rè dòu fu
Impatience will not speed things up.
Keep reading
Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Humility & Self-Mastery, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Monkey, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 夜郎自大 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 夜郎自大 (yè láng zì dà) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from Records of the Grand Historian 史記 (西南夷列傳). It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 夜郎自大?
In Mandarin it is yè láng zì dà. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 夜郎自大 aloud in Mandarin.