叠床架屋 bed upon bed, house upon house
Explanation
比喻文章或事物累赘重复，没有重点。
It's used to describe writing or things that are redundant and repetitive, lacking focus.
Origin Story
南北朝时期，有一位名叫张生的秀才，为了博取功名，苦读诗书。他勤奋好学，但方法却不太对路。他收集了大量的书籍，从各种典籍中摘抄名句，然后把这些名句拼凑在一起，写成文章。他的文章篇幅很长，内容却重复冗余，如同叠床架屋，显得十分累赘。结果，他的文章不仅没有博得考官的青睐，反而被认为是华而不实，毫无新意。张生这才明白，学习不能只顾堆砌，而要注重消化吸收，融会贯通。后来，他改变了学习方法，认真思考，独立创作，最终取得了功名。
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a scholar named Zhang Sheng who diligently studied to achieve fame. He was studious, but his methods were flawed. He collected countless books, copying famous quotes from various sources, then assembling these quotes into essays. His essays were lengthy, but repetitive and redundant, like a house built with layer upon layer of unnecessary structures. Consequently, his essays failed to impress the examiners and were deemed superficial and unoriginal. Zhang Sheng then realised that learning wasn't simply about piling up knowledge but about digestion, absorption, and thorough understanding. He later changed his methods, thinking critically and independently creating works, eventually achieving success.
Usage
用来形容文章或言语累赘、重复、缺乏重点。
Used to describe writing or speech that is redundant, repetitive, and lacks focus.
Examples
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他的文章结构混乱，简直是叠床架屋。
ta de wen zhang jie gou hunluan, ganzhi shi die chuang jia wu
His article is disorganized and overly complex, it's a case of 'dié chuáng jià wū'.
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这篇文章内容重复，显得叠床架屋。
zhe pian wen zhang nei rong chongfu, xian de die chuang jia wu
This article is repetitive and redundant, making it an example of 'dié chuáng jià wū'.