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[
[
[
chē
车
车
shuǐ
水
水
mǎ
马
马
lóng
龙
龙
]
]
]
An incessant stream of carriages and horses
The four characters are vehicle, water, horse and dragon. If you imagine carriages flowing like a river and lines of horses looking like a large dragon, then you can easily see why the idiom is used to describe a place that is busy with people and traffic. It comes from a story that dates back to the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, about 2,000 years ago.
Ma Shi, the 13-year-old daughter of a famous general, was chosen to go to the palace to be one of the empress"s ladies-in-waiting. Ma Shi was a bright, cheerful and polite young lady, and the empress thought very highly of her. When a new emperor inherited the throne, Ma Shi became one of his favorite concubines. She wanted to bear him a child, but the gods did not bless her in this way. So Ma Shi adopted a boy, who later became the emperor Zhang Di, while Ma Shi became the empress dowager.
In 76 A.D., Zhang Di was preparing to bestow noble titles on Ma Shi"s relatives, ranking them according to the old system of the Han dynasty. But Ma did not agree with the idea. The summer of the next year, there was a terrible drought. Some superstitious people believed that this was because the gods were angry, since the emperor did not give the relatives of the empress dowager noble titles the previous year. So a few officials brought up the matter again. When Ma shi heard of this, she still firmly opposed the idea, and to prevent it forever, she issued an imperial decree. It said: “Those who support the idea of giving my relatives noble titles are trying to win my favor, so that they themselves can be promoted. I am the mother of the emperor. I, and those who take care of me, live a simple life. The reason is that I want us to set a good example for other people. I once thought childishly that my relatives would do the same. But they aspire to a life of extravagance, and even ridicule me for my frugality. Several days ago, I was passing by my parents" home, and saw there were lots of people going in and out, and many vehicles running to and fro. It was very busy. Even the clothes of my parents" servants were much better than my driver"s. I understand my family well. They only care about enjoying life, and never concern themselves with the welfare of the common people. How can I agree to let them be rewarded with noble titles?”
From the decree Ma Shi issued, people drew the idiom Che Shui Ma Long --- be crowded with people and vehicles. Now it is used to describe the hustle and bustle of prosperity, or a place that is full of people milling around. So if you want to describe a place as prosperous or very busy, you can use the idiom Che Shui Ma Long.
[
[
[
gè
各
各
jìu
就
就
gè
各
各
wèi
位
位
]
]
]
On your marks!
[
[
[
gè
个
个
rén
人
人
zì
自
自
sǎo
扫
扫
mén
门
门
qián
前
前
xuě
雪
雪
,
,
,
mò
莫
莫
guǎn
管
管
tā
他
他
rén
人
人
wǎ
瓦
瓦
shàng
上
上
shuāng
霜
霜
]
]
]
hoe one's own potatoes
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[
[
gōng
功
功
fū
夫
夫
bù
不
不
fù
负
负
yǒu
有
有
xīn
心
心
rén
人
人
]
]
]
Everything comes to him who waits.
[
[
[
gōng
恭
恭
xǐ
喜
喜
fā
发
发
cái
财
财
]
]
]
May you be prosperous!; Wish you all the best!
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[
[
guò
过
过
yóu
犹
犹
bù
不
不
jí
及
及
]
]
]
going too far is as bad as not going far enough; beyond is as wrong as falling short; too much is as bad as too little
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