Explore 100+ classic Chinese stories including fables, idiom origins, and ancient myths. Each story comes with pinyin annotations to help you build reading fluency while discovering Chinese culture.
Ancient tales with profound moral lessons, passed down for over 2,000 years. Perfect for learning idioms and cultural wisdom.
Discover the fascinating origins behind Chinese four-character idioms (chéngyǔ). Learn the stories that shaped these cultural treasures.
Epic tales of gods, heroes, and creation from ancient Chinese mythology. Journey through the legends that shaped Chinese civilization.
A farmer waits by a tree stump for more rabbits after one accidentally runs into it.
A fox tricks a tiger into believing he rules the forest.
Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise.
Old man Yu moves mountains through perseverance.
Adding feet to a snake spoils the masterpiece.
Fixing the pen after losing sheep - better late than never.
Playing the yu without skill - pretending to be something you're not.
Covering ears while stealing a bell - self-deception doesn't work.
Adding eyes to a dragon painting - making something perfect.
Having a bamboo in mind - planning thoroughly.
Water recedes, stones appear - truth revealed.
Willows dark, flowers bright - new hope after difficulty.
Penetrating three points into wood - profound insight.
Dripping water penetrates stone - perseverance prevails.
Practice makes perfect - skill comes from repetition.
Hitting target every time - perfect accuracy.
Pangu separated heaven and earth from chaos.
Chang'e flies to the moon after taking the elixir.
Houyi shoots down nine suns to save the world.
Eight immortals cross the sea using magical powers.
Nuwa repairs the sky with five-colored stones.
Nuwa creates humans from clay, giving life to the world.
Fuxi creates the eight trigrams to understand the universe.
Shennong tastes hundreds of herbs to discover medicinal plants.
Get full pinyin annotations, audio playback, and progress tracking. Available on iOS.