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The Ancient Story of "Draw a Snake and Add Feet"

2,558 views · Published 30 September 2016 · 3:01 · Indexed 29 October 2026

Channel: eChineseLearning · 2016 · Education

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For the full lesson of 画蛇添足 (Huàshétiānzú) "Draw a Snake and Add Feet to It", read with us here: https://goo.gl/RmULp1

The story of the "Draw a Snake and Add Feet to It" begins with:

Chǔguó yǒu gè guìzú. 
楚国       有   个 贵族。
During Chu dynasty, there was an aristocrat.

One day an This aristocrat gave a pot of wine to his servants. Since there was only one pot, he said that whoever could first draw a snake on the ground could have the wine. Using sticks, the servants began drawing snakes in the dirt. 

A skilled artist finished his snake first. Instead of taking the wine, he became arrogant and decided to draw feet on the snake to show off. 

A second man finished his snake and quickly took the pot of wine, saying that "snakes don't have legs". 

The lesson of the story is that sometimes doing too much work can be detrimental to the overall quality. Sometimes too far, is too much! Be humble.

Read the lesson, watch the video, and stay tuned for more helpful Chinese videos with us!

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