Learn Chinese Words: 杞人忧天 (qǐ rén yōu tiān)
Worrying about the sky is a classic chapter in China's ancient fables, which has been widely spread to this day. Worrying about the sky is still widely used in various occasions, prompting people not to be troubled by unfounded worries, but to look at problems rationally and face life with a positive and optimistic attitude.
Meaning
“杞”的意思是周代诸侯国名 qǐ
“qǐ ” means names of governors in Zhou dynasty.
“人”的意思是人类 rén
“rén ” means human.
“忧”的意思是担忧 yōu
“yōu” means to care.
“天”的意思是天空 tiān
“tiān” means sky.
Story
The story of “杞人忧天（qǐ rén yōu tiān）” is a fable from ancient China, which is recorded in the "Book of Liezi". This story tells of a resident named Qi Ren who was constantly worried that the sky would collapse and the earth would sink,leaving him and his family with nowhere to live. He was so anxious and troubled that he could not eat or sleep well.Later, a wise man came to comfort Qi Ren by saying, "The sky is just a gathering of air, there is air everywhere. You move around, breathe in and out, and spend your whole day in the sky. Why are you still worried about the sky collapsing?" Then he asked Qi Ren, “What if the earth sinks?" The wise man comforting him replied, "The earth is just a collection of soil blocks, filling up all around. There is no place without soil. You walk and jump around, spending your whole day on the ground. Why are you still worried about the earth sinking?"After this wise man explained it to him, Qi Ren finally felt at ease and his mood became very happy. The wise man also felt at ease and very happy. This story later became the idiom "杞人忧天(qǐ rén yōu tiān)", used to describe people who worry unnecessarily.
Revaluation
First，don't worry excessively about things that are beyond your ability. The man from Qi always worried about the sky falling down, and this kind of worry was meaningless because it was an impossible thing to happen.
Secondly，don't let your imagination and worries overly affect your life. The man from Qi had too much imagination and turned a small matter into a big one, resulting in himself being exhausted.
Besides, recognize that some unrealistic thoughts and worries will only cause trouble and annoyance to yourself. In the story of "杞人忧天(qǐ rén yōu tiān)", the man from Qi's worries and thoughts did not bring any actual benefits, but instead made himself feel heavy.
What's more, learn to relax yourself and not always be in a state of tension and anxiety. In "杞人忧天(qǐ rén yōu tiān), the man from Qi was always in a state of tension and anxiety, which would affect his physical and mental health.
Finally, learn to face reality and cherish the life at hand. He did not cherish the life at hand and always thought about future disasters, which made him unable to enjoy the present life.
Sentence
- You are really worrying. Even if it rains heavily, the area is high and will never be flooded.
你真是杞人忧天，即便下大雨，这地区地势高，绝不会淹水。
nǐ zhēn shì qǐ rén yōu tiān ， jí biàn xià dà yǔ ， zhè dì qū dì shì gāo ， jué bù huì yān shuǐ 。 - Is he okay? I'm so worried about you. I hope you don't think I'm an alarmist, but I'm really worried about you.
他还好吧？我担心死你了，希望你不要觉得我是杞人忧天，但我实在是担心你。
tā hái hǎo ba ？ wǒ dān xīn sǐ nǐ le ， xī wàng nǐ bù yào jué de wǒ shì qǐ rén yōu tiān ， dàn wǒ shí zài shì dān xīn nǐ 。 - Don't worry, in the final analysis, growth is a kind of happiness.
别杞人忧天，归根到底成长是一种幸福。
bié qǐ rén yōu tiān ， guī gēn dào dǐ chéng zhǎng shì yī zhǒng xìng fú。