To rank after Sun Shan
To fail a test or not be selected for a position
Negative
由于准备的不充分，这次考试他再一次名落孙山 | Yóuyú zhǔnbèi de bù chōngfèn, zhè cì kǎoshì tā zài yīcì míngluòsūnshān
Since he didn't prepare well, he failed the test again this time
[Source]
名落孙山的候选人回去工作，其他的则说战斗刚刚开始 | Míngluòsūnshān de hòuxuǎn rén huíqù gōngzuò, qítā de zé shuō zhàndòu gānggāng kāishǐ
Unselected candidates went back to work, while others said that the battle was only beginning
[Source]
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《过庭录》(Guò Tíng Lù) by Southern Sòng Dynasty (南宋, 1127 - 1279) poet 范公偁 (Fàn Gōng Chēng). The work details moral teachings from great men within the dynasty.
In ancient times, there lived a smart and eloquent man named 孙山 (Sūn Shān). One day, 孙山 and the son of a neighbor traveled together to the capital city to take the difficult and grueling imperial examination.
Soon, the list of people who had passed the examination was released. 孙山 flipped through the pages anxiously, and finally, on the very last row of the very last page, he saw his name. Though this meant he had gotten the lowest possible passing score, a passing score was still a passing score, and he was overjoyed. Unfortunately, though, his neighbor's son's name was nowhere to be found.
After hearing this bad news, the neighbor's son decided to remain in the city for a few days, and 孙山 returned home alone. Shortly after, his neighbor reached out and inquired as to how his son had done. 孙山 was horrified. He didn't want to directly tell his friend that his son had failed, but he also didn't want to conceal what had happened. He finally came up with an elegant way of delivering the bad news by saying, "The person who received the lowest passing score was me, and your son ranked after me."