弼马温

弼馬溫

Bìmǎwēn

proper noun

Meanings

1 keeper of the heavenly horses, the lowly post the Jade Emperor gives Sun Wukong in Journey to the West
2 a petty, lowly job

孙悟空 Sūn Wùkōng Sun Wukong · fictional character

Characters

warm (punning on 瘟 "plague")

Examples

HSK 6

孙悟空嫌弼马温这个官太小，一气之下回了花果山。

Sūn Wùkōng xián Bìmǎwēn zhège guān tài xiǎo, yíqìzhīxià huí le Huāguǒshān.

Sun Wukong found the post of keeper of the heavenly horses too lowly, and in a rage went back to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.

HSK 6

他说自己在公司就是个弼马温，整天干杂活。

Tā shuō zìjǐ zài gōngsī jiùshì ge Bìmǎwēn, zhěngtiān gàn záhuó.

He says that at the company he is just a stable boy, doing odd jobs all day.

Tips

culture

The title puns on 避马瘟 "ward off horse plague", from the old belief that a monkey kept in a stable protected the horses from disease. His fury at the post leads 孙悟空 to call himself 齐天大圣.

Stroke Order

弼 bì

马 mǎ

温 wēn