dōng shī xiào pín

Literal: Dong Shi (東施, dōng shī) imitates (效, xiào) frowning (顰, pín)

Actual: To imitate something poorly without a deep understanding

Xi Shi was one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China. These Four Beauties were so elegant that birds and fish would faint in their presence; the moon and flowers would close up in shame. However, great beauty came at great costs, especially for Xi Shi.

Xi Shi had a heart problem due to her poor constitution, befitting the ancient Chinese image of a delicate, fragile woman (which modern society definitely does not have an issue with). On the way back from a laundry run, she felt chest pains and cupped her hand over her heart, her face immersed in a faint sorrow. People on the street saw Xi Shi’s pained expression and were enchanted by her nuanced pose; news of her (slightly masochistic) beauty spread within the village.

In that same village lived another gal, Dong Shi. Unfortunately, Dong Shi was decidedly not a supermodel. In contemporary slang, “she ugly”. Dong Shi heard about Xi Shi and her heart problems, and out of her own infinite wisdom realized: “If I make the same pose as Xi Shi, then I can become as beautiful as she is!” Thus, Dong Shi went out onto the street, pursing her lips and holding her hands out awkwardly in an attempt to imitate Xi Shi. Sadly, her rendition of “fragile and beautiful woman with heart problems” only enhanced her unsightly appearance, and nearby villagers quickly dispersed whenever they saw Dong Xi as they muttered something about the Coronavirus.

TL;DR: An ugly girl tries to imitate a beautiful one, only to fail miserably. True beauty comes from within, through healthy self validation and emotional maturity. At least that’s what I’m told.

Side note: The first character of Xi Shi (西施) is 西 = West; for Dong Shi (東施), 東 = East - a bit of nuanced humor lost through direct translation, as the two are basically opposites.