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
名落孙山

       宋朝时（公元960年-1279年）有一个擅长幽默的人，名叫孙山。有一年，他去参加科举考试。发榜之后，孙山榜上有名，但是排在最后一位。

       孙山回到家乡后，一位同乡向他打听自己的儿子考上没有。孙山笑了笑说：“孙山考上最后一名，您儿子的名字还在孙山后面呢。”

       后来人们用“名落孙山”来比喻考试没有考上或者选拔没有被录取。

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