An Old Horse Knows the Way

An Old Horse Knows the Way

Characters:

Pronunciation: lao(3) ma(3) shi(1) tu(2)

Explanation: Said of an experienced person who knows how to deal with different ideas, situations, and people

Tone: Neutral

The Story: In the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huangong of the State of Qi defeated the states of Shan Rong and Gu Zhu. Gu Zhu was very far away from Qin, and it was spring when the army of Qi set off for the war. But winter had come when they won and returned home. Therefore the army got lost because the natural landscape had changed a lot.

At this point, Guan Zhong, the minister of Qi, said to Huangong: "An old horse knows the way it once traveled. Why not use their wisdom to guide us?" So they picked some old horses to lead the way. And the Qi army followed. At last they arrived home safely.

Usage Example (Pinyin): Ta(1) lao(3) ma(3) shi(1) tu(2), zhi(3) dao(3) wo(3) men(2)dao(4) le zheng(4) que(4) de lu(4).

Usage Example (English translation): Just as an old horse knows the way, he told us the correct way to do things.

Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those above where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms newsletter with a good offline study program.