As expressionless as a wooden chicken
To be dumbstruck with fear or shock
Negative
这个出乎意料的结局令他呆若木鸡，不知道该怎么办才好 | Zhège chūhūyìliào de jiéjú lìng tā dāiruòmùjī, bù zhīdào gāi zěnme bàn cái hǎo
This completely unexpected ending left him dumbstruck, and he had no idea what to do to make things better
[Source]
他听了电话之后，就呆若木鸡地站在那儿，好像受了什么惊吓 | Tā tīngle diànhuà zhīhòu, jiù dāiruòmùjī de zhàn zài nàr, hǎoxiàng shòu le shénme jīngxià
After he listened to the call, he stood there dumbfounded, as if he had been given a fright
[Source]
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《庄子》(Zhuāng Zǐ), a work written by 庄子 (Zhuāng Zǐ, the same as in the title) during the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC)
Under construction
齐宣王 (Qí Xuān Wáng) was the king of the state of Qí (齐国， 1046 - 221 BC). One of his favorite hobbies was cock fighting, so he hired a man named 纪渻子 (Jì Shěng Zǐ) to train a rooster for him.
After ten days, the emperor asked, "Is the rooster trained yet?"
"No," replied 纪渻子. "He's very arrogant and impulsive."
After another ten days, the emperor asked, "Is the rooster done training yet?"
"No," replied 纪渻子. "He still looks at his opponents too aggressively."
After yet another ten days, the emperor asked again, "Is the rooster done training yet?"
"Pretty much," replied 纪渻子. "Now even if his opponents cluck at him, he doesn't react."
When the rooster was finally put in the ring to fight, he was completely composed and had no reaction to the other rooster or his clucks at all. In fact, he looked like he'd been carved from wood. His opponent rooster saw this demeanor and grew too frightened to fight, and he turned around and fled the ring.