Back in his hometown, one of his neighbors asked him whether the neighbor's son had also passed. Sun Shan said with a smile: "Sun Shan was the last on the list. Your son came after Sun Shan."
Later, people used this idiom to indicate failing in an examination or competition.
míng luò sūn shā
名落孫山
宋朝時（公元960年-1279年）有一個擅長幽默的人，名叫孫山。有一年，他去參加科舉考試。發(fā)榜之后，孫山榜上有名，但是排在最后一位。
孫山回到家鄉(xiāng)后，一位同鄉(xiāng)向他打聽自己的兒子考上沒有。孫山笑了笑說：“孫山考上最后一名，您兒子的名字還在孫山后面呢?！?ensp;
孫山回到家鄉(xiāng)后，一位同鄉(xiāng)向他打聽自己的兒子考上沒有。孫山笑了笑說：“孫山考上最后一名，您兒子的名字還在孫山后面呢?！?ensp;
后來人們用“名落孫山”來比喻考試沒有考上或者選拔沒有被錄取。
àn bù jiù bān
按部就班
Follow the prescribed order; keep to the conventional way of doing things
àn rán shī sè
黯然失色
Be overshadowed; be eclipsed; pale into insignificance
biàn běn jiā lì
變本加厲
Worsen; intensify; become aggravated
bié chū xīn cái
別出心裁
Start something unique or original; deliberately adopt a different approach; try to be different
cāng h?i sāng tián
滄海桑田
Seas changes into mulberry fields time brings great changes to the world
chū qí zhì shèng
出奇制勝
Win by making a surprise move
按部就班
Follow the prescribed order; keep to the conventional way of doing things
àn rán shī sè
黯然失色
Be overshadowed; be eclipsed; pale into insignificance
biàn běn jiā lì
變本加厲
Worsen; intensify; become aggravated
bié chū xīn cái
別出心裁
Start something unique or original; deliberately adopt a different approach; try to be different
cāng h?i sāng tián
滄海桑田
Seas changes into mulberry fields time brings great changes to the world
chū qí zhì shèng
出奇制勝
Win by making a surprise move
Source: China Internet Information Center
