not to realize that when the lining of the coat gets worn out , there will be nothing left to support the fur

not to realize that when the lining of the coat gets worn out , there will be nothing left to support the fur

It is a Chinese idiom. Pinyin is f ǎ nqi ú f ù x ī n, which describes poverty and hard work. It is also compared to being foolish and ignorant. From "on salt and iron · Feiyang".

The origin of Idioms

Han huankuan's "on salt and iron · Feiyang" said: "it's just like a fool, who is paid for his fur, loves his hair, and doesn't know his skin."

Idiom usage

It's hard to save a hair if you don't know what's important and what's not. Biography of Fan Tai in Song Dynasty

Idiom story

Wei Wenhou was a wise king in the Warring States period. once on a trip of marquis Wen of Wei, he saw a man wearing a fur on the road (the ancients wore fur with Mao facing outward) and walking with firewood on his back. Wen Hou asked him, "why do you wear fur and carry firewood?" The man said, "because I cherish the fur so much that it will be worn off." Wen Hou said, "don't you know that if the fur lining is worn out, the fur on the fur will lose its support?" In the second year, the Dongyang area of the state of Wei paid tribute ten times as much as usual, and the ministers congratulated Wen Hou. Wen Hou was worried and said, "this is not a good thing. Just like the man who wears fur with firewood on his back, because he loves fur, forgetting fur lining is more important. Now the cultivated land in Dongyang has not increased, and the population of the common people has not been heard to increase, but the money and grain have increased tenfold. This must be due to the stratagem of the literati. I feel uneasy after hearing this. I'm worried that the country will not be stable if it goes on like this. Why do you want to congratulate me? "

Analysis of Idioms

Synonyms: ruminating, ruminating