Chengyu

東施效顰 (dōng shī xiào pín)

Characters

東 dōng: East

施 shī: Bestow

效 xiào: Imitate

顰 pín: Frown

Story

In a village during the 戰國時代 Warring States period, there was a beautiful girl called 西施 (Xī Shī).  The whole village was enamoured by her beauty.  Another girl named 東施 (Dōng Shī) was ugly and jealous of Xi Shi’s attention.

One day, Dong Shi saw Xi Shi frowning because of an illness.  Dong Shi thought Xi Shi looked even more beautiful with the frown.  Desperate to receive compliments, Dong Shi decided to frown herself to mimic Xi Shi.  Dong Shi farrowed her brows and lowered her lips to force a frown as she walked down a busy street.  To her surprise, people turned away and avoided her.

Lesson

The villagers were probably avoiding Dong Shi not because she was hideous with the frown, but because she looked angry and intimidating.  Regardless, Dong Shi was even less pleasant to look at when she tried to imitate Xi Shi’s frown.  Thus, 東施效顰 (dōng shī xiào pín) – literally, Dong Shi imitates frown – means to make a fool of oneself by copying another person.  That is, “monkey see – monkey do”.

Many people may be guilty of 東施效顰 (dōng shī xiào pín) when they go shopping for clothes.  They see pictures of tall, airbrushed models and fantasize of looking as good in the same clothes.  Luckily, many stores have great return policies.

Research

The human brain is full of cells called mirror neurons.  These mirror neurons fire when people act and when they see the same action done by others (2).  For example, some mirror neurons activate when a person lifts a glass.  These same cells would also activate when the person observes another lift the glass. 

Mirror neurons serve several functions.  One is theory of mind – the ability to understand the mental states of others.  Specifically, mirror neurons help us imagine the actions of others and thus, aid in our understanding of their intentions (3).  Similarly, mirror neurons help us empathize (4).  For instance, people who reported greater empathy also showed stronger activations in the mirror system for both hand actions and emotions (5,6).  Unsurprisingly, mirror neurons are involved in imitation (7).  In fact, these cells even compel us to unintentionally copy the actions of others.  The urge to yawn or sit cross-legged like everyone else arises from mirror neurons.

Indeed, Dong Shi’s mirror neurons may have compelled her to mimic Xi Shi’s frown.  Hence, if someone describe your behaviour as 東施效顰 (dōng shī xiào pín), just reply, “it’s not me – it’s my mirror neurons”.

1. Brook, Z. (2009). Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings with Selections from Traditional Commentaries. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.


2. Keysers, C. (2010). Mirror Neurons. Current Biology, 19(21), 971–973.


3. Gallese, V., & Goldman, A. (1998). Mirror neurons and the simulation theory of mind-reading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2(12), 493–501.


4. Preston, S. D., & de Waal, F.B.M. (2002). Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25, 1–72.


5. Gazzola, V., Aziz-Zadeh, L., & Keysers, C. (2006). Empathy and the Somatotopic Auditory Mirror System in Humans. Current Biology, 16, 1824-1829.


6. Jabbi, M., Swart, M., & Keysers, C. (2007). Empathy for positive and negative emotions in the gustatory cortex. NeuroImage, 34(4), 1744–53.


7. Longo, M. R., Kosobud, A., & Bertenthal, B. I. (2008). Automatic imitation of biomechanically possible and impossible actions: effects of priming movements versus goals. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform, 34(2), 489–501.

Image credit:

1. Yu Ninje, CC BY-SA 3.0, Warring States Period, 7 November 2004, retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=353843

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