| dōng | shī | xiào | pín | ||||||
| 东 | 施 | 效 | 颦 | ||||||
| chuán | shuō | chūn | qiū | shí | qī | yuè | guó | yǒu | |
| 传 | 说 | 春 | 秋 | 时 | 期 | , | 越 | 国 | 有 |
| yī | měi | nǚ | míng | huàn | xī | shī | |||
| 一 | 美 | 女 | , | 名 | 唤 | 西 | 施 | 。 | |
| dàn | shì | xī | shī | yǒu | xīn | kǒu | téng | de | máo |
| 但 | 是 | 西 | 施 | 有 | 心 | 口 | 疼 | 的 | 毛 |
| bìng | suǒ | yǐ | tā | jīng | cháng | shǒu | wǔ | xiōng | |
| 病 | , | 所 | 以 | 她 | 经 | 常 | 手 | 捂 | 胸 |
| kǒu | zhòu | zháo | méi | tóu | zǒu | zháo | |||
| 口 | , | 皱 | 着 | 眉 | 头 | 走 | 着 | 。 | |
| cūn | zǐ | lǐ | huán | zhù | zháo | yī | wèi | chǒu | gū |
| 村 | 子 | 里 | 还 | 住 | 着 | 一 | 位 | 丑 | 姑 |
| niáng | jiào | zuò | dōng | shī | tā | shí | fēn | ||
| 娘 | , | 叫 | 做 | 东 | 施 | , | 她 | 十 | 分 |
| jí | dù | xī | shī | ||||||
| 嫉 | 妒 | 西 | 施 | 。 | |||||
| yú | shì | dōng | shī | shí | cháng | xiào | fǎng | xī | shī |
| 于 | 是 | 东 | 施 | 时 | 常 | 效 | 仿 | 西 | 施 |
| shǒu | wǔ | xiōng | kǒu | jǐn | zhòu | méi | tóu | ||
| , | 手 | 捂 | 胸 | 口 | , | 紧 | 皱 | 眉 | 头 |
| 。 | |||||||||
| dōng | shī | jué | dé | tā | xiào | fǎng | xī | shī | jiù |
| 东 | 施 | 觉 | 得 | 她 | 效 | 仿 | 西 | 施 | 就 |
| huì | biàn | dé | hěn | měi | lì | dàn | shì | shí | |
| 会 | 变 | 得 | 很 | 美 | 丽 | , | 但 | 是 | 实 |
| jì | shàng | zhǐ | huì | shǐ | tā | biàn | dé | gèng | |
| 际 | 上 | , | 只 | 会 | 使 | 她 | 变 | 得 | 更 |
| nán | kàn | ér | yǐ | ||||||
| 难 | 看 | 而 | 已 | 。 | |||||
| zhè | gè | diǎn | gù | bǐ | yù | bù | qià | dāng | de |
| 这 | 个 | 典 | 故 | 比 | 喻 | 不 | 恰 | 当 | 的 |
| mó | fǎng | dài | lái | xiāng | fǎn | de | xiào | guǒ | |
| 模 | 仿 | , | 带 | 来 | 相 | 反 | 的 | 效 | 果 |
| 。 | |||||||||
| In the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋时期,770-476 BC), there was a beauty in the State of Yue called Xishi (西施). |
| She often suffered from pains in her chest, and so she would often walk around doubled over and with her brows knitted. |
| There was an ugly girl in the village called Dongshi who envied Xishi. |
| Striving to emulate Xishi, she imitated her stoop, knitting her brows at the same time. |
| She thought that this made her elegant, but in fact, it only made her more ugly. |
| Later, this idiom came to be used to indicate improper imitation that produces the reverse effect. |
| index pinyin-less version |