As summer approaches in China, the annual frustration against incessant mosquitoes and other bugs now out in force is just beginning. But in ancient Chinese literature and poems, insects played all manner of roles, form slanderous mosquitoes to sly flies to self-destructive moths. Many sayings and stories involving insects became four-character chengyu, some still in use today to describe, for example, veteran artists and inexperienced workers. Here are some useful chengyu (成語, chéng yǔ) involving insects, and the stories behind them:

蟬不知雪 chán bù zhī xuě
Cicadas know nothing about snow

Cicadas emerge from the earth in China as early as June, and only survive above the ground as adults for two to six weeks before they die, and the cycle begins again the next summer. This chengyu references the fact that cicadas never live to see the winter months (蟬活不到冬天, chán huó bù dào dōng tiān).

Originally found in the Discourse on Salt and Iron (《鹽鐵論》yán tiě lùn), a record of political, diplomatic, economic, and cultural debates during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, written by the official Heng Kuan (恒寬, héng kuān), the full phrase reads "some don't believe the things they never see, like the cicadas who never know snow (以所不睹不信人，若蟬之不知雪堅 yǐ suǒ bù dǔ bù xìn rén , ruò chán zhī bù zhī xuě jiān)." The phrase is meant to criticize those with limited knowledge or experience (見聞不廣, jiàn wén bù guǎng).

來源：The World of Chinese
編輯：萬月英