What does 对牛弹琴 mean?

对牛弹琴 (duì niú tán qín) literally means 'play the zither to a cow.' Today it describes wasting your words on someone who can't understand, or teases a speaker who ignores their audience. Aimed at a listener it is a little rude, so use it with care.

What is the English equivalent of 对牛弹琴?

The closest English idiom is 'casting pearls before swine', from the Gospel of Matthew. Everyday versions are 'talking to a brick wall' and 'falling on deaf ears'.

What is the moral of 对牛弹琴?

The original lesson is 'it is not that the ox does not hear; the tune does not suit its ears.' Good communication means choosing words your listener can understand.

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Chinese idiom · 声匠改编 · 3:59

Playing the Zither to a Cow

A musician plays his finest tune to a cow, who keeps on grazing, until he plays a buzz and a moo. The story behind dui niu tan qin.

Narrator

Master Mou

The Scholar

Gongming Yi

The Cowherd Boy

0:000:00

Other languages · 2 languages

🇨🇳 中文 🇺🇸 English

About this story

Playing the Zither to a Cow tells the story behind the Chinese idiom 对牛弹琴 (duì niú tán qín), literally 'face a cow, play the zither.' It comes from Mouzi's Treatise on Settling Doubts (Mouzi lihuo lun), a defence of Buddhism traditionally attributed to Mou Rong of the Eastern Han and preserved in the Hongming ji, compiled by the monk Sengyou in the early sixth century. Asked why he quotes the Confucian classics instead of Buddhist scriptures, Master Mou tells of the musician Gongming Yi, whose elegant tune left the animal grazing, while the sound of buzzing insects and a lost calf made it prick up its ears. This version keeps Master Mou's debate as the frame and adds a cowherd boy who spots the answer.

What it teaches

Speak in a way your listener can take in. The original says the animal was not deaf, the tune simply did not suit its ears, so before blaming someone for not understanding, ask whether you picked the right tune.

Suits

Ages 6 and up

Tips for telling it

Play Qing jiao soft and slow, then have fun with the buzzing and mooing.
Ask: was the cow silly, or did the musician pick the wrong music?
Have your child explain the same thing to a little sibling and to a grown-up, and notice how the words change.

Questions people ask

What does 对牛弹琴 mean?: 对牛弹琴 (duì niú tán qín) literally means 'play the zither to a cow.' Today it describes wasting your words on someone who can't understand, or teases a speaker who ignores their audience. Aimed at a listener it is a little rude, so use it with care.
Where does Playing the Zither to a Cow come from?: It comes from Mouzi's Treatise on Settling Doubts (Mouzi lihuo lun), traditionally attributed to Mou Rong of the Eastern Han and preserved in the Hongming ji. The musician is Gongming Yi, and the tune he plays first is called Qing jiao.
What is the English equivalent of 对牛弹琴?: The closest English idiom is 'casting pearls before swine', from the Gospel of Matthew. Everyday versions are 'talking to a brick wall' and 'falling on deaf ears'.
What is the moral of 对牛弹琴?: The original lesson is 'it is not that the ox does not hear; the tune does not suit its ears.' Good communication means choosing words your listener can understand.