Meaning of the Idiom
ye lang zi da（The state of Ye Lang/self-conceited）
During the Han Dynasty, in the southwest there was a small country called Yelang, and although it was an independent nation, its territory was small, there weren’t many citizens, and its products were pitifully few. Because it was the largest kingdom in the near area, the Yelang king who’d never left his own country thought the country he ruled was the biggest on earth.
One day, the king of Yelang was on a national border inspection tour with his troops, when he pointed in front of him [to neighboring country] and said, “Which country is bigger?” In order to serve their own interests and make the king happy, the troops said, “Of course Yelang is bigger!” They walked along, and the king once again lifted up his head, gazed at the big mountain in the distance and asked: “Is there a taller mountain than this anywhere on earth?” And his men answered: “No, there’s no mountain taller than this one on earth.” After a while, they reached the river side, and the king asked again: “I think this is the world’s longest river.” And all his men said in unison “The king speaks truly.” After this, the ignorant king believed even more firmly that Yelang was the world’s biggest country.
Then one day, the Han Dynasty dispatched an envoy to Yelang, and on the way they passed the neighboring country of Dian, and the King of Dian asked the emissary: “If you compared the Han Dynasty and my Kingdom, which one would be bigger?” The emissary listened in astonishment, as he’d never have thought this small a country thought it could compare itself to the Han Dynasty. But he really never could have suspected that when he got to Yelang, the prideful and ignorant king who didn’t know that the kingdom he ruled was about the size of one Han county, would ask with an exaggerated opinion of his own worth, “Which is bigger: the Han Dynasty or my country?”
夜郎自大
yè láng zì dà，比喻妄自尊大，即骄傲无知的肤浅自负或自大行为。
出自《史记·西南夷列传》。
例句
他只是拿了一次奖，就夜郎自大，认为没有甚麽人比得上他。
他觉得自己很了不起，那种夜郎自大的作风最叫人讨厌。
我们要进步，就绝不能夜郎自大，故步自封。
Reading The Paragraphs!
Meaning of Words
| 词语 | 华文解释 | 英文解释 |
|---|---|---|
| 巡视 | 意思是指巡行视察。 例句：老师走进考场，就开始四处巡视。 | go on an inspection tour |
| 迎合 | 意思是猜测别人的心意以便投其所好。 例句：除了小文表达了自己的想法，其他人都只迎合了老板的意见。 | cater |
| 异口同声 | 意思是不同的人同时说同样的话。形容意见一致。 例句：老师刚讲出问题，同学们就异口同声地回答了出来。 | speak with [in] one voice |
| 无知 | 意思是缺乏知识和重要常识。 例句：他这个人不仅自己无知，还总觉得是别人的问题。 | ignorance |
| 不知天高地厚 | 不知道天有多高，地有多深。形容骄狂无知。 例句：这个年轻人不知天高地厚，擅自就决定了这件事。 | not to know the immensity of heaven and earth |
Daily Language 