In the Song Dynasty (960-1279) there was a joker called Sun Shan. One year he went to take the imperial examination and came last on the list of successful candidates.

Back in his hometown, one of his neighbors asked him whether the neighbor's son had also passed. Sun Shan said with a smile: "Sun Shan was the last on the list. Your son came after Sun Shan."

Later, people used this idiom to indicate failing in an examination or competition.

míng luò sūn shā
名落孫山

?????? 宋朝時（公元960年-1279年）有一個擅長幽默的人，名叫孫山。有一年，他去參加科舉考試。發榜之后，孫山榜上有名，但是排在最后一位。

?????? 孫山回到家鄉后，一位同鄉向他打聽自己的兒子考上沒有。孫山笑了笑說：“孫山考上最后一名，您兒子的名字還在孫山后面呢。”

?????? 后來人們用“名落孫山”來比喻考試沒有考上或者選拔沒有被錄取。

àn bù jiù bān
按部就班
Follow the prescribed order; keep to the conventional way of doing things