【正文】 temperate.[4](Shakespeare’s Son 18) The west wind bl ows from the Atlantic Ocean as warm and gentle as Chinese east wind and brings voluminous rain to this area. So that Britain abounds in rain can be proved in some idioms concerning rain: to make hay while the sun shines (趁熱打鐵 ), rainy day（窮困時期） , to rain or shine（無論如何） , to rain cats and dogs（傾盆大雨） , as right as rain（非常正確） , etc. Britain used to be known as a country of fog partly due to the dampness and warmness of the weather condition and partly to the air pollution as side product of the industrial revolution. Therefore, in English there are some idiomatic expressions concerning fog, such as in a fog（云里霧里）， and to have not the foggiest idea. Spring up like mushrooms (雨后春筍 ) may bee inprehensible to Chinese learner if he is unaware that this idiom implies the richness of mushroom growing in the wet area in Britain just as bamboo in Chinese specialty, and as plentiful as blackberries(黑莓遍地 ) also indicates the ecological environment in Britain, for blackberries are easily available in England. In Chinese culture, east wind is the wind of spring。 spring is warm and colorful, and it is regarded as the beginning of all lives. There are many idioms in China, which refer to spring：春暖花開 (in warm spring, all the blossoms are in full bloom.), 春意盎然 (spring is very much in the air), 一年之計在于春 (the whole year’s work consists in a good start in spring) ，萬紫千紅總是春 (it is spring when the gayest colours abound). Spring has the image of good things, so Chinese “ 春 ” is used in some idioms to express this: 滿面春風 (one’s face radiates happiness), 春風化雨 (the lifegiving spring breeze and rainsalutary influence of education). Summer is always connected with extremely hot or the intense heat, so赤日炎炎似火燒 (the blazing sun scorches like fire)、驕陽似火 (the burning sun is like a fire) are terms often used to describe summer. So different living surroundings may produce different idioms and different culture. 2. Different historical allusion Different countries possess different history culture, which mainly prises allusion, myths, poems, ancient books and records, etc. Among them, allusion is the most important。 it reflects the national characteristic. Idioms from history culture are the gems of human cultural heritage. It is worthwhile for us to learn them well. There are lots of idioms ing from the historical allusion. The structures of these idioms are very simple but they have profound meaning, so we cannot translate and understand these idioms from the literal meaning. The different historical backgrounds of the English and Chinese people have their different legends and anecdotes about historical figures which have provided rich and varied materials for their idioms, and consequently give a national color to the idioms in the two languages. It is necessary for us to learn and understand the English allusion as well as the Chinese allusion. It can enlarge our scope of knowledge, widen our field of vision and it is useful to learn about the origin and development of English and Chinese language and literature. . Historical events In most, if not all, languages, people embellish their speech or writing with references to characters or events from their history, that is to say, idiomatic expressions are closely related to a country39。s history. Take the aspect of language for example: there are a lot of idioms in the Chinese language which cannot find an equivalent in the English language because the history of the two countries are quite different. Many Chinese idioms are from their own historical events which are wellknown by Chinese people. For instance, the following idioms are from historical events in Ancient China: 風聲鶴唳 ,草木皆兵 (be in an extremely nervous state in which one is frightened by the slightest sound) is from the defeat of Fu Jian?s(苻堅 ) army at Feishui River during the East Jin Dynasty。 臥薪嘗膽 (to sleep on brushwood and taste gallto undergo selfimposed hardships so as to strengthen one39。s resolve to wipe out a national humiliation) es from The Historical Records?Yue?s State Emperor Gou Jian?s Noble Family(《史記 越王勾踐世家》 ): When Yue?s State Emperor Gou Jian returned to his state, he had much physical suffering and was mentally worried. He placed a bitter gall in front of his seat, and he had a look at it when he sat or slept and tasted it when he had meals. 。 沉魚落雁之容，閉月羞花之貌 concerns great beauties in ancient times. This idiom es from Dai Shanfu?s Academician Tao Writes Good Landscape When Drunken(戴善夫《陶學士醉寫風光好》 ): To my mind, this woman is so beautiful that she will make the fish sink and the birds alight, or she will put the flowers to shame and outshine the moon. 。[5]P126,537,57 三個臭皮匠，頂個諸葛亮 expresses the wisdom of the masses exceeds that of the wisest individual, for 諸葛亮 is regarded as the master mind during the last years of the EastHan Dynasty. England has a history of more than one thousand years and has much less important historical events than China. So the English language has much less idioms from historical events than the Chinese language, but there are still some, for example, to meet one39。s Waterloo(一敗涂地 ) is from the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, which means to be pletely defeated。 The id iom Dunkirk evacuation(敦刻爾克撤退 )es from the Second World War and originally meant the retreat of the EnglishFrench troops forced by the German. Now the expression means to retreat in disorder. When Greek meet Greek, then es the tug of war means a fierce battle. A story is told that, in 1936, Emilio Mola headed four columns to attack the capitalMadrid, before attacking, he delivered a speech that the four columns had surrounded Madrid, while the fifth column was in the city. That is how the idiom the fifth column(第五縱隊 )came into being.[6]P209 Similar exa