unexpected misfortune(sān cháng liǎng duǎn)

unexpected misfortune

Three long and two short, Chinese idioms, Pinyin is s ā NCH á ngli ǎ ngdu ǎ n. It means an unexpected disaster or accident. It is also a euphemism for the death of a person (mostly used in hypotheses and fictions). It's from "yuanyangbang · Qiti".

Analysis of Idioms

[synonym] high mountains and low waters, two mistakes in one way and [antonym] safe and sound

The origin of Idioms

Fan Wenruo of Ming Dynasty wrote in Yuanyang stick: I'm still afraid that Bo's lover will bring down my daughter. I have to go all the way to find out if there are any problems

Idiom usage

Combined; as an object; derogatory. It's a pity if sister-in-law Li should have ~! Yao xueyin's Li Zicheng, Vol.1, Chapter 17

Idioms and allusions

The theory of "three strengths and two weaknesses" is related to coffins. The coffin is made of six pieces of wood. The lid and the bottom of the coffin are commonly known as heaven and earth respectively. The left and right pieces are called sun and moon. These four pieces are long wood, and the front and back pieces are called colorful heads and colorful tails respectively. They are short square materials, so the total is four long and two short. But the coffin lid was only put on after death, so we only called it "three long and two short" as another name for death, and later added the meaning of accident, disaster and so on. Another theory of "three strengths and two weaknesses" is related to the five swords made by Ou Yezi. "Yuejueshu. Biography of the sword:" because of the spirit of heaven, ouyezi learned his skill and made three major punishments and two minor punishments: one is Zhanlu, two is Chunjun, three is shengxie (panying), four is Yuchang and five is Juque Among them, shengxie and Yuchang are short swords, and the other three are long swords. These five swords are extremely sharp. When people encounter these five swords, they will worry about their lives. Therefore, later generations call various risks endangering people's lives three long and two short. But they are all far fetched. The most credible is that "three long" refers to three incense sticks, and "two short" refers to two candles. Living people are not affected by these things. Most of the people who need incense are dead. In the book of rites, there is a record as follows: "coffin bundle, shrink two, balance three; Ren, each bundle one." The description is so simple that we have to read Kong Yingda carefully: "the coffin is tied with leather because there are no nails in the ancient coffin. Shrink both, shrink even. The two lines of the longitudinal bundle are the same. Balance the three, horizontal bundle of the three also. Ren, one in each bundle. Ren, small to also, its shape wide at both ends, the central small also. There is no need to nail the coffin, but first chisel the edge of the coffin and the joint of the two ends to make the ridge shape, then use the small connecting to make it firm, and use a line of lapel to connect with each bundle, if the bundle is vertical, then use the lapel to connect the coffin cover and bottom, so as to make it firm with the coffin head and tail. In the Han Dynasty, it was called Xiaoyao. " In modern Chinese, a brief retelling: in ancient times, the coffin did not need nails, and the bottom and cover of the coffin were bound together with a pimp. Three in the transverse direction and two in the longitudinal direction. The horizontal direction of the board is long, and the vertical direction of the board is short. Lapel originally refers to the suture of clothes. It refers to the wooden wedge connecting the lid and the bottom of the coffin. It is wide at both ends and narrow in the middle. It is inserted into the ridge on both sides of the coffin mouth to make the lid close to the coffin body. Lapel and pimp are used to fasten the coffin lid. Later, the coffin lid was nailed with nails, which was convenient and fast, and the lapel was gradually eliminated. However, this word has been handed down and is often used in modern Chinese.

Chinese PinYin : sān cháng liǎng duǎn