砚兄砚弟 硯兄硯弟 yàn xiōng yàn dì lit. older scholar and younger scholar / close friends (idiom) 脆弱 cuì ruò weak / frail syn 薄弱 bó ruò weak / frail syn 清脆 qīng cuì sharp and clear / crisp / melodious / ringing / tinkling / silvery (of sound) / fragile / frail / also written 輕脆|轻脆 syn 单薄 單薄 dān bó weak / frail / thin / flimsy syn 孱弱 chán ruò delicate / frail / impotent / weak syn 羸弱 léi ruò frail / weak 老态 老態 lǎo tài old and frail / decrepit / doddering / decrepitude / infirmities of old age syn 娇 嬌 jiāo lovable / pampered / tender / delicate / frail syn 轻脆 輕脆 qīng cuì sharp and clear / crisp / melodious / ringing / tinkling / silvery (of sound) / fragile / frail / also written 清脆 㛂 nuǒ graceful / frail and petite 博士买驴 博士買驢 bó shì mǎi lǘ lit. the scholar buys a donkey (idiom) / fig. long-winded verbiage that never gets to the point / idiom mocking scholastic pomposity 才子佳人 cái zǐ jiā rén lit. gifted scholar, beautiful lady (idiom) / fig. pair of ideal lovers syn 白面书生 白面書生 bái miàn shū shēng lit. pale-faced scholar (idiom) / young and inexperienced person without practical experience / still wet behind the ears syn 手不释卷 手不釋卷 shǒu bù shì juàn lit. always with a book in hand (idiom) / fig. (of a student or scholar) diligent and hardworking syn 佳人才子 jiā rén cái zǐ lit. beautiful lady, gifted scholar (idiom) / fig. pair of ideal lovers 文武双全 文武雙全 wén wǔ shuāng quán well versed in letters and military technology (idiom) / fine scholar and soldier / master of pen and sword syn 博士买驴 博士買驢 bó shì - mǎi lǘ (idiom) to act like the scholar who wrote at length about buying a donkey without even mentioning the word "donkey" / to write at length without ever getting to the point 琴棋书画 琴棋書畫 qín - qí - shū - huà (idiom) the four arts of the Chinese scholar (guqin, Go, calligraphy and painting) / (by extension) the accomplishments of a well-educated person 学者 學者 xué zhě scholar syn 学家 學家 xué jiā scholar syn 大方 dà fāng expert / scholar / mother earth / a type of green tea syn 书生 書生 shū shēng scholar / intellectual / egghead syn 院士 yuàn shì scholar / academician / fellow (of an academy) 学子 學子 xué zǐ (literary) student / scholar syn 文人 wén rén cultivated individual / scholar / literati syn 秀才 xiù cai a person who has passed the county level imperial exam (historical) / scholar / skillful writer / fine talent syn 才子 cái zǐ gifted scholar syn 增生 zēng shēng (medicine) hyperplasia / (abbr. for 增廣生員|增广生员[zeng1guang3 sheng1yuan2]) a scholar studying for the Ming dynasty imperial examinations who did not make the quota for support in the form of a monthly allowance of rice that students who made the quota received 宗师 宗師 zōng shī great scholar respected for learning and integrity syn 读书人 讀書人 dú shū rén scholar / intellectual syn 学人 學人 xué rén scholar / learned person syn 士大夫 shì dà fū scholar officials syn 文士 wén shì literati / scholar 王小波 wáng xiǎo bō Wang Xiaobo (1952-1997), scholar and novelist 儒生 rú shēng Confucian scholar (old) syn 雅士 yǎ shì elegant scholar 士人 shì rén scholar syn 王国维 王國維 wáng guó wéi Wang Guowei (1877-1927), noted scholar 范仲淹 fàn zhòng yān Fan Zhongyan (989-1052), Song dynasty scholar and politician, author of On Yueyang Tower 岳陽樓記|岳阳楼记[Yue4yang2 Lou2 Ji4] 穷酸 窮酸 qióng suān (of a scholar) impoverished, shabby and pedantic / impoverished pedant syn 乡绅 鄉紳 xiāng shēn a scholar or government official living in one's village / a village gentleman / squire syn 诸生 諸生 zhū shēng Imperial scholar from the Ming Dynasty onwards 刘向 劉向 liú xiàng Liu Xiang (77-6 BC), Han Dynasty scholar and author 郑玄 鄭玄 zhèng xuán Zheng Xuan (127-200), late Han scholar 士 shì member of the senior ministerial class (old) / scholar (old) / bachelor / honorific / soldier / noncommissioned officer / specialist worker syn 汉学家 漢學家 hàn xué jiā sinologist / scholar of Chinese 魏源 wèi yuán Wei Yuan (1794-1857), Qing dynasty thinker, historian and scholar 王夫之 wáng fū zhī Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692), wide-ranging scholar of the Ming-Qing transition 周敦颐 周敦頤 zhōu dūn yí Zhou Dunyi (1017-1073), Song dynasty neo-Confucian scholar 张岱 張岱 zhāng dài Zhang Dai (1597-c. 1684), late Ming scholar 儒 rú scholar / Confucian syn 槐 huái Chinese scholar tree (Sophora japonica) / Japanese pagoda tree syn 龙驹凤雏 龍駒鳳雛 lóng jū fèng chú brilliant young man / talented young scholar 阿旺曲沛 ā wàng qǔ pèi Ngawang Choepel (Tibetan, Fulbright scholar) 阿什拉维 阿什拉維 ā shén lā wéi surname Ashrawi / Hanan Daoud Khalil Ashrawi (1946-), Palestinian scholar and political activist 于丹 yú dān Yu Dan (1965-), female scholar, writer, educator and TV presenter 儒士 rú shì a Confucian scholar 司马谈 司馬談 sī mǎ tán Sima Tan (-110 BC), Han dynasty scholar and historian, and father of 司馬遷|司马迁[Si1 ma3 Qian1] 士子 shì zǐ official / scholar (old) 太极图说 太極圖說 tài jí tú shuō philosophical book by Song dynasty scholar Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤|周敦颐[Zhou1 Dun1 yi2], starting from an interpretation of the Book of Changes 宿儒 sù rú experienced scholar / old expert in the field 张溥 張溥 zhāng pǔ Ming dynasty scholar (1602-1641), prolific writer, proponent of the Fushe 復社|复社[Fu4she4] cultural renewal movement, author of Five Men’s Tombstone Inscription 五人墓碑記|五人墓碑记[Wu3 Ren2 Mu4bei1ji4] 后学 後學 hòu xué junior scholar or pupil in imperial China 措大 cuò dà worthless scholar / useless wretch syn 扬雄 揚雄 yáng xióng Yang Xiong (53 BC-18 AD), scholar, poet and lexicographer, author of the first Chinese dialect dictionary 方言[Fang1 yan2] 李昉 lǐ fǎng Li Fang (925-996), scholar between Tang and Song dynasties, author of fictional history 李翱 lǐ áo Li Ao (774-836), Tang dynasty scholar and writer, colleague of Han Yu 韓愈|韩愈[Han2 Yu4] in promoting classical writing 古文運動|古文运动[gu3 wen2 yun4 dong4] 李肇 李肈 lǐ zhào Li Zhao (c. 800), Tang dynasty scholar and official 梅里美 méi lǐ měi Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870), French scholar and writer, author of novel Carmen on which Bizet based his opera 杨守仁 楊守仁 yáng shǒu rén Yang Shouren (1912-2005), PRC agricultural scientist / Yang Shouren (16th century), Ming dynasty scholar 泰西大儒 tài xī dà rú Great European Scholar (honorific title of Matteo Ricci) 王叔文 wáng shū wén Wang Shuwen (735-806), famous Tang dynasty scholar, Go player and politician, a leader of failed Yongzhen Reform 永貞革新|永贞革新[Yong3 zhen1 Ge2 xin1] of 805 王岱舆 王岱輿 wáng dài yú Wang Daiyu (1584-1670), Hui Islamic scholar of the Ming-Qing transition 王肃 王肅 wáng sù Wang Su (c. 195-256), classical scholar of Cao Wei dynasty, believed to have forged several classical texts 理学家 理學家 lǐ xué jiā scholar of the rationalist school of Neo-Confucianism 理學|理学[Li3 xue2] 生员 生員 shēng yuán scholar preparing for imperial examinations (in former times) syn 皮特拉克 pí tè lā kè Petrarch / Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), Italian scholar and lyric poet, famous for sonnets 程颐 程頤 chéng yí Cheng Yi (1033-1107), Song neo-Confucian scholar 程颢 程顥 chéng hào Cheng Hao (1032-1085), Song neo-Confucian scholar 章太炎 zhāng tài yán Zhang Taiyan (1869-1936), scholar, journalist, revolutionary and leading intellectual around the time of the Xinhai revolution 章炳麟 zhāng bǐng lín Zhang Taiyan 章太炎 (1869-1936), scholar, journalist, revolutionary and leading intellectual around the time of the Xinhai revolution 扎马剌丁 紮馬剌丁 zā mǎ lá dīng Jamal al-Din ibn Muhammad al-Najjari (13th century), famous Persian astronomer and scholar who served Khubilai Khan 忽必烈 from c. 1260 虞应龙 虞應龍 yú yìng lóng Yu Yinglong, Yuan dynasty scholar, collaborated on the geographical encyclopedia Dayuan Dayi Tongzhi 大元大一統誌|大元大一统志 诗礼 詩禮 shī lǐ the classics a Confucian scholar must read (such as The Book of Songs 詩經|诗经[Shi1jing1] and The Book of Rites 禮記|礼记[Li3ji4]) 邵雍 shào yōng Shao Yong (1011-1077), Northern Song poet and Rationalist scholar 理學家|理学家 钱钟书 錢鐘書 qián zhōng shū Qian Zhongshu (1910-1998), Chinese scholar and writer, author of the 1947 novel Fortress Beseiged 圍城|围城[Wei2cheng2] 阿旺曲培 ā wàng qū péi Ngawang Choephel (1966-), Tibetan musicologist and dissident, Fullbright scholar (1993-1994), jailed 1995-2002 then released to US 陈仁锡 陳仁錫 chén rén xī Chen Renxi (1581-1636), late Ming scholar and prolific author 黄宗羲 黃宗羲 huáng zōng xī Huang Zongxi (1610-1695), scholar and writer of the Ming-Qing transition 吕洞宾 呂洞賓 lǚ dòng bīn Lü Dongbin (796-), Tang Dynasty scholar, one of the Eight Immortals 八仙[Ba1 xian1] 阮元 ruǎn yuán scholar-official in the Qing dynasty (1764-1849) 耕读 耕讀 gēng dú to be both a farmer and a scholar / to work the land and also undertake academic studies 孔乙己 kǒng yǐ jǐ Kong Yiji, protagonist of a short story of the same name by Lu Xun 魯迅|鲁迅[Lu3 Xun4] depicting the life of a poor, unsuccessful scholar who clings to his Confucian ideals despite his dismal circumstances 正字通 zhèng zì tōng Zhengzitong, Chinese character dictionary with 33,549 entries, edited by Ming scholar Zhang Zilie 張自烈|张自烈[Zhang1 Zi4 lie4] in 17th century 小强 小強 xiǎo qiáng (slang) cockroach ("Little Qiang" was originally the name given to a dead cockroach that had supposedly been a pet of the lead character in the 1993 Hong Kong comedy movie "Flirting Scholar". Subsequently, it came to be used as a name for any cockroach, and also for characters in film and television who are seemingly indestructible or repeatedly resurrected.) 宏儒 hóng rú learned scholar 张敞 張敞 zhāng cháng Zhang Chang, official and scholar of the Western Han dynasty 张自烈 張自烈 zhāng zì liè Zhang Zilie (1597-1673), Ming dynasty scholar, author of Zhengzitong 正字通[Zheng4 zi4 tong1] 