---
title: "Chinese Idioms by Theme: Chengyu About Love, Success, Animals and More, With Audio"
description: "Chinese idioms (chengyu) in 14 themes, from love and friendship to animals and numbers, each with pinyin, meaning and sound, and 84 proverbs. Keep a list in one press or print it as flashcards."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

Free · 2,821 chengyu

# Chinese idioms

Chengyu by theme, each with pinyin, meaning and sound.

- [Love26 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/love)
- [Friendship9 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/friendship)
- [Family22 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/family)
- [Success32 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/success)
- [Hard work20 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/hard-work)
- [Learning and wisdom31 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/learning)
- [Time71 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/time)
- [Nature88 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/nature)
- [Money30 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/money)
- [Courage12 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/courage)
- [Happiness22 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/happiness)
- [Life51 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/life)
- [With animals81 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/animals)
- [With numbers301 idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms/numbers)
- [Proverbs84 sayings](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-proverbs)
- [Every chengyu2,821](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/chengyu)

## What is a chengyu?

A set phrase, nearly always four characters, that packs a story or an image into a few words: 画蛇添足, “drawing legs on a snake”, means spoiling something by overdoing it. Chinese speakers use them in writing, speeches and everyday talk.

## How many chengyu are there?

Dictionaries list tens of thousands; a few thousand are in common use. Our list has 2,821, the most common first, each with its own page.

## How are they grouped here?

By what each one means (love, success, hard work …), or, for animals and numbers, by the characters it is written with. One idiom can be in more than one theme.

## More free tools

- [Chengyu quiz](https://mandarinthewild.com/chengyu-quiz)
- [Every chengyu](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/chengyu)
- [Chinese dictionary](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dictionary)
- [Chinese grammar](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar)

Chengyu from the Xinhua idiom list; meanings from our own dictionary.