Four-character idioms that contain an allusive pair

Question

I am interested in finding some examples of four-character idioms that contain exactly a pair of allusions, different in source but similar in nature, that were often compiled by a specific literary author. Consider the following:

Idiom	Allusive pair	Source
成仁取義	孔曰成仁，孟曰取義	文天祥《自贊》
泣歧悲染	楊朱泣歧路，墨子悲染絲	阮籍《詠懷》
環肥燕瘦	短長肥瘦各有態，玉環飛燕誰敢憎	蘇東坡《孫莘老求墨妙亭詩》
沈魚落雁	毛嬙、麗姬，人之所美也，魚見之深入，鳥見之高飛	《莊子·齊物論》
顏筋柳骨	曼卿之筆，顏筋柳骨	范仲淹《祭石學士文》

Some have separate sources:

Idiom	Allusion 1	Allusion 2
懸樑刺股	（蘇秦）讀書欲睡，引錐自刺其股，血流至足（劉向《戰國策·秦策一》）	（孫敬）及至眠睡疲寢，以繩系頭懸屋梁（班固《漢書》）
閉月羞花	彷彿兮若輕雲之蔽月（曹植《洛神賦》）	秀色掩今古，荷花羞玉顏（李白《西施》）
斷袖分桃	不欲動賢，乃斷袖而起（《漢書·佞幸傳》）	食桃而甘，不盡，以其半啖君（韓非子《說難》）
結草銜環	顆見老人結草以亢杜回（《左氏傳·宣公》）	以白環四枚與寶（吳均《續齊諧記》）

Examples of what I do not consider as four-character idioms that contain an allusive pair:

• 撲朔迷離: the two are not distinct in terms of their source, as there is no further allusion in the《木蘭辭》couplet 雄兔腳撲朔，雌兔眼迷離.
• 南陽諸葛廬，西蜀子雲亭: the two are indeed two separate individuals in 劉禹錫《陋室銘》, but the expression is not idiomatic enough, let alone reducible into a four-character idiom.

I am sure there are more idioms like so, but I cannot think of a specific repertoire for this purpose (nor any more illustrative examples!) at the moment.

Answer 1

According to a research, about half (2171 out of 4954) of four-character chengyus contain pairs.

So all you need to do is going through them and see if they contain allusions. 😂 That might be difficult because some allusions are not very obvious.

Here are some examples (Sorry for mixing simplified and traditional characters. They are copied from different dictionaries.) :

囊萤映雪 - 囊萤：晋代车胤，小时家贫，夏天以练囊装萤火虫照明读书；映雪：晋代孙康冬天常利用雪的反光读书。形容学习刻苦勤奋。

偷香竊玉 - 偷香指賈充女與韓壽私通的故事。見「偷香」條。竊玉指鄭生事。見「竊玉」條。偷香竊玉指男女私通。

讓棗推梨 - 讓棗，指南朝王泰不與諸兄爭棗栗的故事。見《南史．卷二二．王曇首傳》。推梨，指東漢孔融讓梨與兄的故事。見《後漢書．卷七○．孔融傳》。後以讓棗推梨比喻兄弟間的友愛。

光怪陸離 - 「光怪」，離奇怪異的樣子。語出《吳書》。「陸離」，參差錯雜的樣子。語出戰國楚．屈原〈離騷〉。「光怪陸離」形容現象離奇怪異，色彩參差錯雜。

Answer 2

“文过饰非”： 《论语·子张》：“小人之过也，必文。”《庄子·盗跖》：“辩足以饰非。”

Answer 3

天涯海角 - 南朝陳·徐陵《武皇帝作相時與嶺南酋豪書》：“天涯藐藐，地角悠悠了

酒池肉林 - 《史記·殷本紀》：“以酒為池，懸肉為林

名正言順 - 《論語‧子路》「名不正則言不順，言不順則事不利。」

車水馬龍 - 《東觀漢記．卷六．外戚列傳．明德馬皇后》：「車如流水，馬如游龍。」

五光十色 - 南朝梁·江淹《丽色赋》：“五光徘徊，十色陆离

珠圓玉潤 - 唐人張文琮〈詠水〉詩中有「方流涵玉潤，圓折動珠光」二句

瓜田李下 - 古樂府 《君子行》：“瓜田不納履，李下不整冠。”

水深火熱 - 《孟子．梁惠王下》如水益深，如火益熱