This idiom is not difficult to understand, but it has a profound meaning, and the origin of the word "flying yellow" is also very old. Let's look at an interesting historical story first.
During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a famous genius named Jie Jin, who was brilliant since childhood and was praised as a "prodigy" by people in Shili Baxiang.
Jie Jin was born in a scholarly family. It is said that when he was a baby, his mother often wrote to him on the ground. He couldn't forget anything when he was five, and he could write a good article when he was seven.
Because Jie Jin was famous since he was a child, he was considered to be among the best when he took the children's test.
In order to avoid bumps and tiredness on the road, Jie Jin's father put his son on his shoulder and let him ride to the exam by himself, which happened to be seen by the examiner.
In ancient times, scholars paid the most attention to honesty, and a sensible person should put "filial piety" first, so the examiner shook his head repeatedly when he saw Jie Jin riding on his father's head and accused him of "letting his father go out".
This taunt happened to be heard by Jie Jin and his son. Although my father felt embarrassed and didn't dare to refute the examiner because of his face, Jie Jin dismissed it and casually replied, "Father wants his son to be a dragon", which not only responded to the examiner but also was very neat, and people around him praised him.
Later, Jie Jin won the first prize, and in the final, he joined his brother Xie Lun and brother-in-law Huang Jinhua in the Jinshi, so Xie Jia also had the reputation of "a family of three scholars".
Since then, people often use this idiom to express parents' ardent expectations for their children, hoping that their children will one day achieve a brilliant life like dragons and phoenixes.
Second, the original intention and connotation of the apprentice
The idiom "the apprentice" also means wishing others brilliant achievements, but the origin of this idiom is not simple. First of all, we might as well disassemble this idiom and analyze it one by one.
"Huang Fei" and "Tengda" are just a subject and a predicate, which constitute the subject-predicate structure. The predicate verb "Tengda" is easy to understand, which means to take off in the air and go straight to the sky, which means to make progress.
Relatively speaking, the word "flying yellow" is more obscure, and it seems that it is rare to see this word used alone in daily communication.