a small vessel is easily filled

a small vessel is easily filled

It's a Chinese idiom. Pinyin is Q ì Xi ǎ oy ì y í ng, which means small amount of wine. The latter is narrow and easy to be complacent. From the notes of Prince Wei in Yuancheng

The origin of Idioms

Wu Zhi of Han Dynasty wrote in the note between the city of Yuan Dynasty and the prince of Wei: "if small utensils are easy to be filled, the first thing is to be settled."

Idiom usage

It is easy to be complacent. If you want to be arrogant, those proud officials will be ashamed to death. (Chapter 12 of Jing Hua Yuan by Li Ruzhen in Qing Dynasty) notes of Yuewei thatched cottage by Ji Yun in Qing Dynasty, volume 2-3, continuation of luanyang: "the puppet mentioned by Shao eryun. The same thing can be used as a reference for those who are small and easy to gain. 」