杞人忧天 – Qi Ren You Tian – Don’t worry!
Chengyu
杞人忧天 – qǐ rén yōu tiān
杞人憂天 (Traditional characters)
Chinese Character Break Down
杞 – The State of Qi, 16th century BC–445 BC (careful, it’s not the State of 齐 – also Qi)
人 – person
忧 – fear, worry
天 – sky
杞人忧天: The man from Qi fears the sky.
Idiom Meaning
This Chengyu is used if someone has groundless fears or is worrying unnecessarily.
Chengyu Examples
天气这么好，你带伞出门真是杞人忧天了。
tiānqì zhème hǎo, nǐ dài sǎn chūmén zhēnshì qǐrényōutiān.
The weather is great, there’s absolutely no reason for you to take an umbrella.
2012世界毁灭的事件也许只是杞人忧天吧。
shìjièhuǐmiè de shìjiàn yěxǔ zhǐshì qǐrényōutiān ba.
There’s no need at all to worry about the 2012 apocalypse.
Chengyu Story and Background
This Chengyu comes from a 5th century BC daoist story:
In the State of Qi there was a man, who feared that the sky would fall down, and there would be no space for his body. He could neither sleep nor eat.
Not too complicated, is it?
There are a few slightly different versions of the story. In a more extended one, his friend walks up to him and tells him to calm down. The man answers: “But if the sky won’t fall down, the stars or the moon or the sun may!” His friend walked away in frustration.
And again, enjoy this video!
