To be in the same company or work together with mediocre or vulgar people; based on an allusion to General Han Xin's self-deprecating remark about being ranked alongside Fan Kuai

Fan Kuai (c. 242–189 BC), a prominent general and founding official of the Western Han dynasty. A former dog butcher who became a trusted companion of [[刘邦|劉邦|liu2 bang1]], he is most famous for his heroic intervention to save Liu Bang at the Feast at Swan Goose Gate (Hongmen Banquet).

(literary) to be ashamed to associate with others; specifically, to feel it is beneath one's dignity to be ranked alongside mediocre or inferior people. This idiom originates from the story of General [[韩信|韓信|han2 xin4]] feeling insulted at being ranked equally with the former commoner [[樊哙|樊噲|fan2 kuai4]]