barter the trunk for the branches
As a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is B è IB ě NJI ù mॸ, which means to deviate from the root and pursue the last part. It comes from the biography of Lu Kai in the annals of the Three Kingdoms.
The origin of Idioms
In the biography of Lu Kai in the annals of the Three Kingdoms, the annals of Shu, it is said, "what is the beginning and the end of Wu Yue
Idiom usage
As a predicate or attribute.
Examples
That's the end of the story.
barter the trunk for the branches
extort excessive taxes and levies - hèng zhēng bào fù
one has attained a success and is well-contented - chūn fēng dé yì