As we all know, Chinese idioms (Cheng Yu) do not follow the usual grammatical structure and syntax of the modern Chinese language, and are instead highly compact and synthetic. A Chinese idiom story will not only tell you the meaning of a phrase, but also help you learn more about ancient Chinese culture. Thus, to many Chinese learners, learning Chinese idioms could stimulate his or her imagination and interesting.

So let us start to learn Chinese idioms: 囫囵吞枣
In the Chinese idiom "囫囵吞枣 (húlún tūnzǎo)", "囫囵 (húlún)" means "the whole;" "吞 (tūn)" means to "swallow;" "枣 (zǎo)" is "date.”This idiom means "to eat the date whole."
Key online Chinese Learning Points (Preview):
吞 (tūn): v. to swallow
枣 (zǎo): n. date

Learn online Chinese idiomatic story:

A long time ago, a person who considered himself clever went to a friend's party. Everyone was chatting together while eating fruits. A guest among the group said, "It is hard to have the best of both worlds. Let's take eating fruits as an example. Pears are good for our teeth, but they harm our stomachs if we eat too many of them. Likewise, dates are good for our stomachs, but bad for our teeth." The others agreed with the guest. The man who considered himself clever continued the conversation by saying, "This problem is easy to solve. We can discard the pulps when eating pears in order to avoid hurting our stomachs, and we can also eat the date’s whole in order to protect our teeth."

In jest, a fellow guest at the party remarked, "You really 囫囵吞枣 (húlún tūnzǎo) eat dates whole!”Following this incident, Chinese people often use this idiom to point out when a person accepts information without digesting and analyzing it.

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