be ignorant of the present state of affairs(bù shí shí wù)

be ignorant of the present state of affairs

Chinese idiom, Pinyin is B ù sh í sh í w ù, which means not knowing the current important situation and the trend of the times. Now it also means not being interesting in dealing with people. It comes from the biography of Zhang BA in the later Han Dynasty.

Idiom explanation

Current affairs: current situation and trend.

The origin of Idioms

In the biography of Zhang BA in the book of the later Han Dynasty, it is said that "when Deng Gu was in power, he was expensive and prosperous. When he heard that he was famous, he wanted to make friends with him, but he didn't answer. People laugh at his ignorance of current affairs. "

Analysis of Idioms

They are old-fashioned, not aware of time-varying, unconventional, adroit and at the helm of the wind

Idiom usage

The verb object type is used as a predicate, with derogatory meaning to describe people who are not reasonable. It's too late to eat this bowl of rice. In Chapter 44 of the romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong of the Ming Dynasty, Kong Ming inspired Zhou Yu and Sun Quan to break Cao Cao with a plan: Kong Ming said, "Liang does not laugh at others, but he does not know the current situation." Su said: "Sir, how can I laugh at my ignorance of current affairs?"

Idiom story

Zhang Ba, a talented official in the Eastern Han Dynasty, was born in Chengdu (now Sichuan) of Shu county. When he was a child, he was filial to his parents, modest to others, very polite, and often praised by his neighbors. Zhang BA was good at reading. He was familiar with the spring and Autumn Annals when he was seven years old. When he grew up, he was well read and talented. He was elected as "filial and honest" by the government and was trained as a candidate for an official. Before long, he was selected to be the head of Guanglu. During the reign of emperor Yongyuan of the Han Dynasty (89-105 A.D.), Zhang Ba became the prefect of Kuaiji, that is, the governor of Suzhou today. At that time, the bandits in this area made frequent disturbances, and the people were restless. Zhang Ba gave full play to his ability to deal with them, and made the bandits surrender. Three years later, through hard work, the people in Kuaiji County lived and worked in peace and contentment, and those with excellent learning and high morality were promoted and reused. With the vigorous development of education, people can hear the sound of children's reading on the road, presenting the appearance of peaceful and prosperous times. As a result, Zhang BA was greatly loved by the people and his reputation spread far and wide. When his official career was successful, Zhang Ba resigned from his official post because of illness. It turned out that he deeply understood the truth that contentment is always happiness and contentment is never disgrace. If a person pursues fame and wealth too much and is insatiable of greed, he will end up in a miserable end. However, even though Zhang Ba retired, his reputation and conduct were highly valued by the imperial court and people at that time. Later, the court resolutely transferred him to Luoyang, worshipped him as a servant, and let him go in and out of the palace to serve the emperor. For a time, the imperial relatives and dignitaries in the capital wanted to make friends with Zhang ba. Deng was an important member of the imperial court at that time. His sister Deng Sui was the empress of emperor Hanhe. He was general Zhonglang of Huben. He was in charge of the army and the army. Many officials tried to get close to him. After hearing about Zhang BA's deeds, Deng also attached great importance to his talent, morality and conduct, and wanted to make friends with him. But when Deng Gu looked for the past, Zhang BA was careful to avoid him, but he didn't pay much attention to him at all. After the news spread, many officials in the imperial court laughed at Zhang ba for his ignorance of current affairs and missed such a rare promotion opportunity. In fact, how can these vulgar people who laugh at Zhang Ba understand Zhang BA's character and integrity?

Chinese PinYin : bù shí shí wù