A quadrisyllabic language

[djwebb2004]

When I first learned Chinese I initially laboured under the impression it was a monosyllabic language, as most characters have a meaning, and then I discovered most words are 2 syllables. Finally, I discover that most educated Chinese chuck in four character phrases all the time - and it is impossible to read books if you don't want to grapple with 成语 and the like. My best Chinese friend seems to know chengyu for nearly all occasions. Eg.

1) At first it seems, tired = 累

2) Then you discover, tired = 疲累

3) Then you discover words like "dog-tired", 疲惫不堪

Does anyone know of an English-Chinese - not a Chinese-English - chengyu dictionary? One where you look up the word "tired" and find the corresponding chengyu?

[Gulao]

You'd probably be better off looking for a dictionary or catalogue of English idioms as they relate to Chinese idioms. Many such idioms have something approaching an equivalent in meaning if not in literal definition. Two more direct examples are 一举两得 (kill two birds with one stone) and 汗流浃背 (sweating like a pig, sweating buckets, etc.).

Even so, there are still a lot of idioms where the meaning can't be reduced to just "tired" or "happy." This is why most idiom catalogues start in Chinese and explain the idioms in English. You need the stories and explanations to understand Chinese idioms. There's no other good way.

[djwebb2004]

You're right. One good way is to go from English idioms to Chinese idioms. But essentially what I am looking for is a book of chengyu organised by subject area, divided into say 100 subjects. So All the chengyu relating to "love" are in one section, for example...