说苑

說苑
Shuōyuàn
proper noun

Meanings

  1. 1 Garden of Stories, Liu Xiang's Western Han collection of anecdotes and sayings

Examples

HSK 5
《 Shuōyuàn 》 shōují le hěnduō Xiān-Qín hé Hàndài de lìshǐ gùshi.
The Garden of Stories collects many historical anecdotes from before the Qin and from the Han.
HSK 7-9
" Tángláng-bǔchán, huángquè-zàihòu " de gùshi chūzì 《 Shuōyuàn 》.
The story of the mantis catching the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it, comes from the Garden of Stories.

Tips

history
刘向 (77–6 BC), who catalogued the Han imperial library, compiled it from older books in twenty chapters, each on one theme: the way of the ruler, the duties of ministers, remonstrance, caution, persuasion and more. Lines are cited by chapter, as in 《说苑·正谏》, the chapter on remonstrance.
culture
Other idioms that go back to it include 三缄其口 'to keep one's mouth sealed', from a bronze figure whose mouth was sealed three times as a warning against careless talk, and 祸不单行 'misfortunes never come singly'.

Stroke Order

说 shuō
苑 yuàn