葉公好龍

Chinese

	Lord Ye/She	to like	dragon; imperial; surname
trad. (葉公好龍)	葉公	好	龍
simp. (叶公好龙)	叶公	好	龙
Literally: “Lord Ye/She liking dragons”.

Etymology

From a parable in 《新序》 (New Prefaces), describing a man named 葉公 (Shè Gōng/Yè Gōng, “Lord Ye/Lord She”), who was obsessed with drawings of dragons, but fled in terror when he saw a real dragon.

葉公子高好龍，鉤以寫龍，鑿以寫龍，屋室雕文以寫龍。於是天龍聞而下之，窺頭於牖，施尾於堂。葉公見之，棄而還走，失其魂魄，五色無主。是葉公非好龍也，好夫似龍而非龍者也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

叶公子高好龙，钩以写龙，凿以写龙，屋室雕文以写龙。于是天龙闻而下之，窥头于牖，施尾于堂。叶公见之，弃而还走，失其魂魄，五色无主。是叶公非好龙也，好夫似龙而非龙者也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Han Dynasty, New Prefaces (新序), Liu Xiang (劉向)

Shègōng Zǐgāo hào lóng, gōu yǐ xiě lóng, záo yǐ xiě lóng, wū shì diāo wén yǐ xiě lóng. Yúshì tiānlóng wén ér xià zhī, kuī tóu yú yǒu, yì wěi yú táng. Shègōng jiàn zhī, qì ér xúanzǒu, shī qí húnpò, wǔsèwúzhǔ. Shì Shègōng fēi hào lóng yě, hào fū sì lóng ér fēi lóng zhě yě. [Pinyin]

Lord Ye/She Zigao liked dragons, dragons drawn on hooks, dragons drawn on wine vessels, dragons drawn at house carvings. So, the dragon in the sky listened then went down, head peeking through the windowsill, tail extended into the hall. Lord Ye/She saw it, gave up then turned around and ran, losing his soul, extremely terrified. This is Lord Ye/She not liking dragons, he liked those resembling dragons but are not dragons.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Yègōnghàolóng, Shègōnghàolóng

(Zhuyin): ㄧㄝˋ ㄍㄨㄥㄏㄠˋ ㄌㄨㄥˊ, ㄕㄜˋ ㄍㄨㄥㄏㄠˋ ㄌㄨㄥˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sip³ gung¹ hou³ lung⁴, jip⁶ gung¹ hou³ lung⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Yègōnghàolóng
  - Zhuyin: ㄧㄝˋ ㄍㄨㄥㄏㄠˋ ㄌㄨㄥˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Yègonghàolóng
  - Wade–Giles: Yeh⁴-kung¹-hao⁴-lung²
  - Yale: Yè-gūng-hàu-lúng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Yehgonghawlong
  - Palladius: Егунхаолун (Jegunxaolun)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛ⁵¹ kʊŋ⁵⁵ xɑʊ̯⁵¹ lʊŋ³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan, literary variant in Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Shègōnghàolóng
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄜˋ ㄍㄨㄥㄏㄠˋ ㄌㄨㄥˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Shègonghàolóng
  - Wade–Giles: Shê⁴-kung¹-hao⁴-lung²
  - Yale: Shè-gūng-hàu-lúng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Shehgonghawlong
  - Palladius: Шэгунхаолун (Šɛgunxaolun)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɤ⁵¹ kʊŋ⁵⁵ xɑʊ̯⁵¹ lʊŋ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sip³ gung¹ hou³ lung⁴, jip⁶ gung¹ hou³ lung⁴
  - Yale: sip gūng hou lùhng, yihp gūng hou lùhng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sip⁸ gung¹ hou³ lung⁴, jip⁹ gung¹ hou³ lung⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: xib³ gung¹ hou³ lung⁴, yib⁶ gung¹ hou³ lung⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːp̚³ kʊŋ⁵⁵ hou̯³³ lʊŋ²¹/, /jiːp̚² kʊŋ⁵⁵ hou̯³³ lʊŋ²¹/

Idiom

葉公好龍

to pretend to like something which one actually dislikes or fears

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