Idiom Explanation:
Swallow the whole thing alive, to mechanically apply someone else’s words, rhetoric, experience or methods.
Pronunciation:
生吞活剥
shēng tūn huó bō
Origin:
唐·刘肃《大唐新语·谱谑》：“活剥张昌龄，生吞郭正一。”
Story:
During the Tang Dynasty, there was a military official named Zhang Huaiqing in Zaoqiang County, Hebei Province, who liked to attach himself to the elegant, but his literary level was relatively low. In order to pursue false fame, he often falsified the good verses of other people and changed them to be his own “creation”.
Once, after reading Li Yifu’s poem, Zhang Huaqing thought it was very good, so he added two words before each verse, turning the original poem into a seven-word poem as his own work: “The moon is a fan of song, and the clouds are a dance dress. Look in the mirror and pity the shadow of the snow, when the time comes to take Luochuan back.”
In addition to stealing from Li Yifu, Zhang Huaiqing was also fond of plagiarizing two other famous scholars, Zhang Changling and Guo Zhengyi, playing a trick similar to the transformation of the Five Absolutes into Seven Absolutes. Zhang Huaiqing’s plagiarism of other people’s poems can only be described as “simple and brutal”. Some people once made up two lines to satirize him, saying, “Flay Zhang Changling alive and swallow Guo Zhengyi alive. This matter was first recorded in the “New Language of the Tang Dynasty – Harmony” written by Liu Su of the Tang Dynasty, but the two sentences written down by Liu Su were “to skin Wang Changling alive and to swallow Guo Zhengyi alive”. In the Song Dynasty, Ji Yougong compiled “The Chronicle of Tang Poetry”, but he thought that it was Zhang Changling who was “flayed alive”.
Zhang Changling was a poet in the early Tang Dynasty, and he was famous for his rhetoric when he was young. The Tang emperor always cherished talent, so he asked what the reason was, and Wang Shidan explained: “Zhang Changling’s style of writing is flashy and unrealistic, not a good seed. If he is appointed, young people will inevitably follow his example out of envy, and in that case, I am afraid that it will affect the culture of the whole country!” Tang Taizong thought it was very reasonable and did not pursue the matter further. Later, when the Cuiwei Palace was completed, Zhang Changling took the opportunity to present “Ode to the Cuiwei Palace”, and Emperor Tang Taizong admired him and praised him as a good writer, so he ordered him to be promoted and let him write edicts for himself. Guo Zhengyi, who was “swallowed alive”, was also an important person in the court who was famous for his writing. This man was a great writer, and he was used by Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, and most of the imperial edicts and court reports were written by him.
Similar Idioms:
- 食古不化
- 囫囵吞枣
