The road to happiness is always strewn with difficulties and setbacks.

The fox assumes the tiger's might.
To bully people by flaunting one's powerful connections.

The words of the lowly carry little weight

To be calm and unhurried

To speak so eloquently that one's words could make a good essay

What one says does not come from the heart;
to speak without sincerity

To return to one's roots

Gossip is a fearful thing

Things go against one's wishes

To persevere for a long time

Frank and outspoken

To speak incoherently, irrationally

To speak incoherently, irrationally

To think and act in the same way

To parrot other people's words;
to echo the view of others

It goes without saying

To estimate correctly one's own strength as well as that of one's opponent

Where water flows, a channel is formed;
when conditions are ripe, success will come

To lose one's appetite

To be on pin and needles

Poor in talent but very ambitious

Ｔo gain the initiative by striking first

A well deserved fame

First come, first served

Enter into the history books;
to make history

People cannot be judged by their appearance

More than one can bear

When drinking water, remember the source from where it originated;
never forget the source of your happiness

To whip the galloping horse;
to work at top speed

To master one's sadness and force a smile

To hope that one's children will have a bright future

Make-believe becomes reality

The punishment does not fit the crime;
to be punished too severely

If old things don't go, new things will never come;

Sprays of leaves grow where they should not;
new problems pop up unexepectedly

The medicine that tastes bad is usually the most effective one

To mistake an enemy for a friend;
Give allegiance to a usurper

To have everything go one's way

To gain advantage from both sides;
be able to achieve success one way or another

Eat and drink to one's heart's content;
to waste too much money on feasting and partying

Be an expert in everything

A man's happiness can be told by his face;
light up, beam with happiness

Indigo blue is obtained from the indigo plant, but such color is bluer than the plant itself;
the disciple has surpassed the master

A thin current can flow a long way;
go about something little by little without letup

A long night of sleep brings about many dreams;
a long delay may mean trouble

Don't put off until tomorrow what can be done today

Great minds think alike

Like a frog in a well;
a person with limited views

Sometimes outsiders can see a situation clearer than who is directly involved in it.

A person's words reflect his thinking.

Regret not knowing somebody before

Seeing is believing

If you plant melons you'll get melons, if you plant beans you'll get beans:
what a man sows, so he shall reap

Busy hands and shuffling feet;
to do something in a frantic rush

The big branch has big leaves;
sloppy, slapdash

Don't know where to put the hands;
don't know where to start from

Without plowing and weeding there's not going to be a harvest;
no pain, no gain

By hook or by crook

All roads lead to Rome

If you don't do bad things, no ghosts are going to knock at your door;
a clear conscience is a good pillow

You are never too old to learn

Weak, dull, uninteresting (of people)

Heaven helps those who help themselves

Take the incidental for the fundamental

Silence is gold

Tell the truth

He who talks much errs much

Trivial matters

Whoever suckles me is my mother;
lick the hand of anyone who throws a few crumbs

There is plenty more fish in the sea

To make a long story short

Out of sight, out of mind

Wholehearted, single-minded

To start from scratch

Be resigned to one's fate

Reading thousands of books is not as useful as travelling for a thousand miles;
you learn more from practical experience than from any theory

The less one has seen, the more he marvels

If you set a goal for yourself, persevere until you accomplish it

To make a show of force

To love money like your own life;
to be greedy

Nothing is impossible for those who are determined to achieve a goal.

Not used to local habits

To take a short break

To have agreed upon something in advance

Looking at the flowers while riding a horse;
to take a brief look at something

Marry a chicken and conform to its habits, marry a dog and conform to its habits;
changing habits according to who you are with

To know how strong a horse is, make it run a long way. To get to know a man well spend a long time with him.

Two different and exchangeable battle formations;
varied and everchanging

Open the window and speak clearly;
to speak straight without going around in circles

To be left without a chou (chip used for counting in ancient times);
to be without resources, at a loss for an idea

Three heads and six arms;
to have inexhaustible resources

Love the house including the crow on its roof;
to love absolutely everything about a person or something

To make a fuss over a trifling matter

First come, first served

Sometimes words cannot describe the feeling;
being unable to express one's feelings with the appropriate words

To be happy at heart like flowers in full bloom;
wild with joy

Actions speak louder than words

Feeling distressed, unbalanced

To put the fat apart and pick only the lean meat;
an annoyingly picky person

The eyes look upwards, but the hand goes downward;
to have high ambitions but limited abilities

To pursue perfection

Some people like radish, some people like other vegetables;
people's taste differ

To make a clear distinction between private and public life

Largely identical but with slight differences

Every experience makes you more knowledgeable

Talking behind someone's back

Big hands and big feet;
to spend money inconsiderately

Lofty goals are achieved by taking care of the small things

The beautiful autumn weather makes people feel good

Changing the soup but not the medicine;
to change the appearance, but not the essence of something

On Mid-Autumn day the moon is at its brightest

One flaw won't obscure the splendour of the jade;
a small mistake/defect won't influence the overall good result

Young people don't know the taste of preoccupation;
young people are unaware of the difficulties of life

To share the sweet and the bitter;
To go through thick and thin together

What is 'three' in the morning, becomes 'four' in the evening;
to change mind often, capricious

Today we have the wine (tomorrow maybe not), so might as well get drunk today;
carpe diem

You don't get tired of doing stuff you really enjoy

To let things take their own course without exerting external influence

A river without a water source, a tree without roots;
without a proper foundation

Bright and skilful

To be dumbfounded by an unexpected favour

To be divorced from reality

A messy autumn;
a period of time filled with annoying things to deal with

Nearly perfect

It is impossible to clap with one hand;
to be difficult to achieve anything without support

Something unsatisfactory in an otherwise perfect thing

To build up something (a project, a company) from nothing

A waste of talent

Not being afraid to ask questions or learn from one's subordinates

To stab somebody in the back

To seize every minute and second;
to make best use of time

To be incompatible

To adhere stubbornly to one's opinions

What the mind wishes the hand is able to do;
dexterous

To look on with folded arms;
to stand aside looking, without offering any help or showing concern

To have nothing to do

To be a thief with a guilty conscience;
to have a guilty conscience

To vanish like the yellow crane ridden by the Immortals;
to leave and never come back

Spoken words fly away, written words remain

To have unnecessary worries

Stopping people's mouth is more dangerous than damming rivers

To feel like a fish in the water;
to be in an ideal situation

Blow on the hairs of a fur to look for defects;
looking insistently for tiny faults

To be content with staying where one is;
it describes people who are content with things as they are, and are not eager/willing to make progress

When the map is unrolled the dagger is revealed;
at last the truth is revealed

Cutting one's feet to fit the shoes;
rigidly apply unsuitable measures

A walking corpse;
an utterly worthless person

To consider carefully

To cut deep with a knife;
to get to the point

To spare no effort

To strike a pose;
to be affected and pretentious

To be divorced form reality

Never feel tired of learning (studying)

The old illness always comes back;
it is difficult to get rid of a deeply rooted bad habit

Years flow like water;
time flies

To use poison to treat the skin ulcer;
to give someone the taste of their own medicine, to fight fire with fire

To have no peace of mind

To show off one's strenghts

thunderbolt out of the blue;
a sudden, enexpected event

A drop in the sea

In times of peace don't lower your guard and be aware of future dangers

Attract a wolf in the house;
dealing with a dangerous person and not being totally aware of it

Put the cart before the horse

Wise men look like fools

All people in the world are brothers

Passing off fish eyes as pearls;
passing off something fake as genuine

Mouth of honey, heart of daggers;
sweet on the outside, but vicious on the inside

Dying leaving a name behind;
if a man has made contributions to the world his name will be remembered

The Southern Mountain can be moved, but the judgement cannot be removed;
a settled case, the decision cannot be changed

Honest advice is unpleaseant to the ear;
honest advice is often hard to accept/take

A monkey wearing a hat;
a worthless person hidden behind imposing looks

A human face with the heart of a beast;
wolf in a sheep skin

Money can make move even the Gods;
money can buy everything

What's gone is gone

Different people have different views

To put Mr. Zhang's hat on Mr. Li's head;
to mistake one thing for another

See the head of the magic dragon but not its tail;
inscrutable people

Sweeping the room clean for a visitor;
looking forward to a guest's visit

If someone is smart as a kid, it doesn't mean he will be so as an adult too

Nothing is too deceitful in war;
all is fair in love and war

To be polite at first and then resorting to force;
trying to solve a dispute through negotiations before using stronger measures

Not to bend despite many setbacks;
undaunted persistence despite many setbacks

Sitting on top of a ountain to watch the tigers fight;
two dogs fight for a bone and a third one runs away with it

To hesitate at making a move at a chess game;
shilly-shally

The strength doesn't match the will (to do or accomplish something)

Depressed and dispirited

To be fond of an easy lifestyle and averse to work

The grass that clogged the way is suddenly gone;
to reach instant enlightenment, to suddenly see the light

The hen has flown away and the eggs are broken;
all is lost

To climb one storey higher;
to improve oneself, to scale new heights

Make an incision on the side of the boat to remember where the sword fell into the sea;
to take ill-advised measures regardless of actual circumstances

To have a tacit understanding (between two people)

To be fair and unselfish

The whole truth has come out

Even the wisest of men could be wrong once

To banter flirtatiously

Sweet talks and honeyed words;
to fool people with beautiful but deceptive words

Mouth wide open and tongue tied;
flabbergasted

Mouth wide open and tongue tied;
flabbergasted

Be forced (as consequence of oppression) to join the Liang Shan rebels;
to be driven to revolt

Draw conclusions after an only partial understanding of a certain matter

To speak at will;
to talk irresponsibly

To persist in one's old ways no matter what others say

To fly in the sky like the legendary horse Fei Huang;
rising to sudden success and honour

Stab somebody in the back

To overcome difficulties by relying on one's own efforts

Rich, varied and colorful

To wash one's ears and listen with great respect;
to be all ears

To treat everybody equally without discrimination

If crimes could be counted like coins on a string, the string would be full;
to have committed countless crimes

All the threads of silk go through the reeds;
get something done with meticulous care

When a clay pot is broken the crack goes to the bottom;
to insist on getting to the bottom of a matter

Speak of Cao Cao and he shows up;
speak of the devil

Among three people, one will always be your master;
by looking around yourself you will always be able to find someone to learn from

To be unfit for a higher post but unwilling to take a lower one;
to be too choosy, fussy to succeed

To talk about others, to gossip

To comment on the head and to judge the feet;
to be overcritical about someone or something

One key opens one lock;
each problem has a specific solution to it

If the upper beam is not straight the lower ones will go aslant;
the fish begins to stink at the head

To adapt oneself to changing conditions

To have eyes but fail to see the Taishan mountain;
to be too ignorant to identify a person of importance or of great talent

The donkey's lips don't match the mouth of the horse;
an answer which has nothing to do with the question, irrelevant

Stop troops to go into battle;
to take no action

To break into a virgin territory;
to be the first to do or create something

To bow one's head and hang one's ears;
to be servile

The newborn ox is not scared of tigers;
young people are daring

To stand by one's word

Beating a dog with a meat bun
to use the wrong method to solve a problem

To overestimate one's own strength

Too impatient to bear waiting

All the previous efforts (or achievements) are wasted

Trying to extinguish a fire with one glass of water;
to be of little or no help

Nine cows missing one hair;
a drop in the ocean; a tiny, insignificant amount

To pass fish eyes off as pearls;
to fool people about the quality of a product

Insatiably greedy

To look but not to see;
to not pay attention, pretending not to see

Suddenly find a way out in an emergency situation

Thick skinned and hard to shake off;
annoyingly stubborn and persistent (of people and their behaviour)

To hurry along like a flock of ducks

Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future

To fear wolves ahead and tigers behind;
to be obsessed by all sorts of fears

A thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers;
a long and arduous journey

Prudent, conscientious and responsible

Happy and pleased with oneself

To be defeated when victory is within one's grasp

To be sound asleep on a high pillow without worries;
to be off guard because resting on your laurels

To get into every hole there is;
to seize every opportunity

To erect a bamboo pole and immediately see its shadow;
to get an instant result

Misfortunes never come alone

Evil people stick together

To stick stubbornly to one's opinions

Superb craftmanship

To build a cart behind closed doors;
to work behind closed doors, away from reality

Gone, never to return

To draw a cake to satisfy one's hunger;
to make an ineffective attempt

To stare with the mouth open;
speechless, tongue tied

Outwardly strong, but inwardly weak

Look at the flowers while riding a horse;
to make a superficial research or investigation

Lord Ye's love of the dragon;
to profess love for something that one, in reality, fears

To praise again and again

After a considerable period of time;
for many, many years to follow

Where to leave and where to go;
don't know which option to choose, a dilemma

To come straight to the point and speak frankly

Kill a man without spilling blood;
to harm a person with insidious and vicious tricks

To have limited knowledge

To be one of the very best;
outstanding

A thunderbolt from the blue;
a sudden, unexpected event

To share thoughts and feelings;
to have mutual affinity

To rub one's eyes;
to look at somebody with new eyes

To be without spiritual sustenance;
To be bored stiff

Heaven and earth have changed their position;
Tremendous change

To be able to see the mountain as soon as the door is opened;
To come straight to the point

Fight Poison with Poison

All kinds of strange things

To be involved with something and being unable to put an end to it

Have nothing to occupy oneself with;
to have nothing to do

Deep feelings of friendship

Sincerely rectify one's errors

To wet each other with saliva;
to help each other with what little resources one has in difficult circumstances

To abide by the law and behave oneself

To dispense rewards according to one's merits

To treat everybody equally without discrimination

To control a chaotic situation and restore it to normality

A cornered dog will leap over a wall;
to be driven to extremes

An evil member of the herd;
a man who acts against the interests of the collective

Well matched in strength;
equal in strength and capabilities to each other

To be concerned about the future of one's country and people

The strength of nine bulls and two tigers;
tremendous strength

Ordinary home-cooked meal;
an everyday occurence

Seek quick success and instant benefits;
be impatient for success

Treat the head when it aches, treat the foot when it hurts;
to solve a problem not at its roots

The meaning beyond literal words:
the implied meaning

Hopelessly stupid

Light and easy to lift:
an easy job

To carry a birch on one's back and ask for punishment;
sincerely admit a fault and make an apology

To dance for joy;
great excitement and joy following success

Have honey on one's lips and murder in the heart;
an iron hand in a velvet glove

A strange event that astonishes people

It takes time to make a useful instrument;
a great mind matures slowly

Mediocre and incompetent

Cause and effect

Not understand what someone is talking about

Make war on paper;
paper talk, indulge in empty talk

Where there's a will, there's a way

Look at plums to quench thirst;
to console oneself with vain hopes

To examine one's conscience

Everything is difficult at first

To get straight to the point

The lover's eye sees the legendary beauty of Xi Shi in his mistress;
love is blind

Stop at nothing in doing evil

Beat the gongs to clear the way for officials:
prepare the public opinion for the advent of something

To waste one's talent on a petty job

An extremely rare opportunity;
the chance of a lifetime

To submit people by force

To be worthy of the reputation one enjoys

Listen to what a person says and watch what he does;
judge people by their deeds, not just by their words

To share happiness and sorrows;
through thick and thin

Rumours and gossip;
scandal

To make trouble out of nothing

Like ants on a hot pan;
in a state of feverish excitement

To make one's home everywhere, be at home everywhere

Achievement depends on human effort

Be in no position to help;
helpless

No way to Heaven, nor door into the earth;
find no way of escape

The ugly Dong Shi blindly imitates the posture of the beautiful Xi Shi;
a ludicrous attempt to imitate something or someone

The blind men feel about the elephant and each of them has a different idea of what the animal is;
a one sided view, take a part for the whole

To swallow something raw and whole;
to imitate mechanically

Listen to both sides and you'll be enlightened, listen to only one side and you'll remain ignorant

Flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water;
beautiful but unattainable dreams, a mirage

To persevere

Standing alone above others;
outstanding, eminent

Too high too reach;
unattainable

A centipede doesn't topple over when dead;
old institutions die hard

Wasting time to solve irrelevant problems;
nit-picking, hair splitting

Incomparable, unparalleled

Lay down one's life in the cause of justice

Get to the point when speaking

Both opposite and complementary to each other

To know only one aspect of a thing;
have only a one sided view

A spot in the white jade;
a little imperfection in something that would otherwise be perfect

Walls have ears

Behave like thieves and whores;
to act like a scoundrel

Foul mouthed

Be obsessed with the desire of profit

One in a hundred;
cream of the crop

To admonish somebody earnestly and maternally

A person with lofty ideals

A refreshing change

To talk nonsense all the time

Still smelling of one's mother milk;
young and inexperienced

Good will be rewarded with good and evil with evil

To advance swiftly in one's career

The proverbial donkey has used up all its tricks;
be at one's wit's end

Ice three feet thick, does not result from one day of cold;
troubles have been brewing for a long time

Crooked ways;
dishonest practices

To stick together in times of crisis

A meaning that goes beyond the literal words;
an implied meaning

To build up bit by bit

Words escaping from the lips;
a slip of the tongue

To lock the door after the thief is gone;
to lock the stable door after the horse is gone

To go from victory to victory

Flawless, perfect

To know fairly well, to know how things stand

The demand exceeds the supply

To burn with anger

To follow in somebody's footsteps

To forget the trap as soon as the fish is caught, ungrateful

You are never too old to learn

Invincible

To be deeply moved (by something)

Over a cup of tea or after dinner;
at one's leisure

Driven by wild ambition, over ambitious

When riding a tiger is difficult to step down;
difficult to get out from a dangerous or embarassing situation

To be able to swallow the soft, not the hard;

Walking on thin ice;
to walk on a razor edge

To say openly what one thinks

Both parties agree;
a done deal

If a man doesn't keep his word, what is he good for?

Feed the horses and sharpen the weapons;
prepare for battle

To lose sleep and forget to eat;
to be absorbed in work and study

When in Rome, do as the Romans do

Live in harmony;
smoke the calumet together

To live off the labour of others

Not worth a penny

Watching the tree to catch a hare;
to wait foolishly for an unlikely windfall

To clasp Buddha's feet only when in distress;
seek for help at the last moment

To put on a false smile;
a skin-deep smile

After the rain the sun shines again;
the calm after the storm

Who strikes first gets the advantage;
the early bird gets the worm

Golden words;
a valuable advice

Neither one thing nor the other;
(said of a shady person) of dubious character

To intrigue against each other

Each crab is smaller than the one before;
going from bad to worse

Dodge a pit and fall into a well;
out of the frying pan into the fire

To have an eyesight as large as a bean;
not see an inch beyond one's nose

To reach the hall through the inner chamber;
to reach a higher level in one's studies or profession

To punish one person to warn a hundred

Like father, like son

To have doubts, not quite convinced about something

You can't build something new without destroying the old

To overestimate one's strenght (or capabilities)

The more the better

To break up in a bad, unpleasant way

Knowing a man by his reputation is not as good as meeting him for real

Mistaking the reflection of a bow in the cup for a snake;
to be very suspicious

To praise the goods one sells;
to blow one's own trumpet

Indifferent, insensitive

To deliberately break the law

To revive an old dream, to relive an old experience

To reach the acme of perfection

A tree may grow very high, but its leaves always fall back to the roots;
a person living far from home, eventually comes back to his native soil

Full of energy and vigour

To redouble one's efforts

To be happy with things as they are

To have deep hatred for someone or something

To turn a defeat into a victory

One palm cannot clap and make a sound;
he who stands alone has no power

To deceive the public; to hoodwink people

To sit back and watch without lending a helping hand

The deeds don't match the words

To be caught in a dilemma

To be very scared and worried

To lay all the cards on the table;
to tell all the truth

A false display of affection

To give off an unbearable stink

To learn from other's strong points to offset one's weaknesses

To act against law and reason; to tyrannize

Cruel and unscrupulous

To advance one inch and retreat one foot;
the game is not worth the candle

Helping somebody to achieve his goal

Taken by surprise;
all of a sudden

Man of the day, man in the news;
celebrity

With the skin gone, hair won't have a place to grow ;
a thing cannot exist without its basis

To lose a sheep and get an ox;
the gain is greater than the loss

To eat one's words; fail to live up to promise

To pull the grass up by its roots; to root up all evil

To be driven to join Liangshan rebel, to be driven to revolt;
be forced to do something desperate

To become the talk of the town

To be lagging too far behind to catch up

To be unable to escape even if given wings

An unjust cause finds little support

To act according to the procedure

To dispatch troops for war without cause

To be provoked beyond endurance

To make a fuss over

Massive crowds of people

A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit

Look forward to something with great eagerness

May you be happy and prosperous

To make a wrong decision in the spur of the moment

To feel like old friends at the first meeting

To reach the pinnacle of power in one jump

How can we retrieve the baby tiger without going into the tiger's nest?;
great rewards usually require a great degree of risk

The swords are not stained with blood;
to achieve victory without fighting

To bully the weak and fear the strong

A single stick cannot sustain a tottering building;
one person alone cannot save the situation

To hang up lanterns and colored decorations

Speechless, dumbfounded

To be blinded by greed; to have a lust for profits

To let things take their own course

A word once spoken cannot be taken back even by a team of four horses;
what has been said cannot be unsaid

A horde of rough, lawless people; mob

The wind, the horse and the ox have nothing in common;
totally different, unrelated things

To turn stone into gold;
to change something worthless into something of value

The anger of a crowd is difficult to oppose

To gain the upper hand by striking first

Enigmatic, unfathomable; too profound to be understood

Within sight but beyond reach; inaccessible

An old horse who knows the way;
a person of great experience

To speak with biting sarcasm

To act independently; not following the mainstream

The strength of nine bulls and two tigers;
a tremendous effort

Return good for evil; turn the other cheek

To study the past helps to understand the present

To lose control of one's temper

Don't let slip an opportunity, it may never come again;
now or never

To make big profits with a small capital

To display a lamb's head while actually selling dogmeat;
To use misleading words

Weeding out the old to let the new emerge

To commit all manner of crimes, to stop at nothing in doing evil

To tiptoe; to avoid being noticed

To have nothing but the bare walls of one's house, to be destitute

Disaster; flood; death by drowning

Tricky, cunning, crafty; versed in the ways of the world

Perfect craftsmanship (that a human could not achieve)

Try to please the public to win praise and support

Local manners and customs

A dagger concealed in a smile;
friendliness concealing malicious motives

To be willing to help but unable to do so

Draw a snake and add feet to it;
to do something unnecessary

Penniless

To make a scene

A good-for-nothing kid of a rich family

To achieve instant fame

Unimaginable, hard to believe

To be baffled

To feel utterly ashamed

To spend three days fishing and two days drying nets;
lack of perseverance

To indulge in a life of debauchery

To be intoxicated with oneself; narcissism

Good medicine tastes bitter;
sometimes the best advice is difficult to accept

Ill timed, inopportune

Wholeheartedly, with complete devotion

Love at first sight

Kill the chicken and show it to the monkey; to punish somebody as a warning to others

A fight between dragon and tiger; a close game

Arrogant

A fine start and poor finish

To gain initiative by striking first

To be only interested in personal gain

Strike the iron while is hot

Invulnerable

Feel simply helpless

To carry on despite difficulties

Heard on the streets and told on the roads; rumours, gossip

Do what one says, live up to one's word

Grind an iron rod into a needle, perseverance makes anything possible

Where there's a will, there's a way

Select the right remedy according to the case

Widespread discontent among the masses

Planning war only on paper, to engage in idle theorizing

Castles in the air, daydream

An endless enjoyment

Make a clear distinction between right and wrong

To have a unique style

Unity is strength

One day seems like three years, to miss sb. very much

Without hesitation

It is hard to explain in a few words

Eat one's own bitter fruit, reap what one has sown

It is difficult to please everyone

The more one gets, the more he wants to have

Exactly as one wishes or hopes for

A storm may arise from a clear sky, sth. unexpected may happen

Unmatched, unique

Add fuel to the fire

The weak are the prey to the strong, the law of the jungle

Get sth. done in one vigorous effort

Too weak to stand a gust of wind, fragile

Take hearsay as true

To rush headlong into danger

Needless worry

Omnipresent, ubiquitous

Distant water won't help extinguish the nearby fire

Be clear at a glance

To talk big

Separated but still in each other's thoughts

With age comes experience and wisdom

To contradict oneself

Business is business

Better be a piece of broken jade, than an unbroken tile

Time flies

Outwardly strong, but inwardly weak

Think thrice before you do something

No possibility of failure, no risk at all

Unwilling to give a cent, very stingy

Seize the opportunity

Dance to somebody's tune, to follow slavishly

Intrigue against each other

Unable to take a decision

Practice makes perfect

To have a narrow view of things, narrow-minded

Persuade people through reasoning

Rats deserting a sinking ship

Seeing is believing

Self-opinionated, self-righteous

To stare angrily

In an awful mess

Turn over a new leaf

Judge people by their appearance

Down to earth

It takes ten years for trees to grow, but a hundred years to bring up a generation of good men

Learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones

Do something well from start to finish

The rice is already cooked; what's done is done

Earnestly practice what one advocates

Give up half way

Kill two birds with one stone