4 characters Idiom and proverb 10 236

We’re happy to bring you free Chinese lessons. This series dives into idioms and proverbs, meaningful and practical. Today’s phrase is 「阮囊羞澀」, with its usage explained below.

Here, we present the idiom 「阮囊羞澀」. Below, you’ll find its explanation and examples of usage.

Ruan Nang: the purse of Yadai Ruan Fu; shy: embarrassed. A metaphor for financial difficulties.

The Mandarin pronunciation of this idiom is :

ruǎn náng xiū sè

while its Cantonese pinyin is :

yun2 nong4 sau1 gip3

Chinese idioms encompass an enormous variety, each rich in its meanings and uses. We’ve compiled these resources to support your efforts in learning the language.