Notes:
Chinese idiomatic expression is usually made up of four characters and contains a single, complete meaning within one sentence. Most four-character words have ancient origins, and their language is often very different from modern Chinese. Four-character expressions are similar to idioms and proverbs, but whereas these come from vernacular speech, four-character terms have literary origins. You can understand some of the meanings literally, and you need to understand others only in their original context.

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