东施效颦 Dongshi Grimaces

东施效颦 Dongshi Grimaces

-         -  to copy or imitate someone, failing to reap the same benefits

Xishi was one of the “Four Great Beauties” of Chinese history.  She lived in the Yue Kingdom during the Spring-and-Autumn period, and her every movement captured everyone’s attention.  Unfortunately, her health was not very stable, for she had an illness of the heart.

Once, after she had washed her clothes at the riverside, she prepared to head home.  On the road home, she suddenly felt a pain in her chest, so she clutched her chest, grimacing.  Although she was in pain, the villagers who saw her said that she looked even more beautiful than normal.

In the same village there was a girl named Dongshi who was ugly and disliked.  She heard that everyone thought Xishi was very beautiful when she grimaced and clutched her chest, so she studied Xishi’s movements.  In front of the villagers, she would deliberately imitate Xishi’s movements, believing that they would also think her beautiful.  The villagers did not think she was beautiful before, but when she imitated Xishi’s chest pains, they all thought it strange and were disgusted.

When the villagers saw her coming, they would quickly shut their doors.  Some would hurriedly take their wives and children and get away from her.  They despised Dongshi even more than before.

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      Zhuang Zi – Tian Yun

This chengyu, from Zhuang Zi, stresses the importance of being ‘natural’ and ‘true to oneself’.  A major theme of Zhuang Zi’s work is the idea that people should not force themselves to change.  Dongshi made the mistake of believing that what worked for someone else would also work for her; what made others beautiful would also make her beautiful.

You might also take another lesson from this story: when beautiful people and ugly people do the exact same thing, people will praise the good-looking person and criticize the hideous one…