little strokes fell great oaks

little strokes fell great oaks

Chinese idiom, Pinyin is sh é NGJ ù m ù Du à n, which means that when a rope is used as a saw, it can also cut wood. Although the power of metaphor is small, as long as we stick to it, things will succeed. It's from "Helin Yulu".

Idiom usage

As long as the time is up, you will surely be able to break the rope and get gratifying results.

Analysis of Idioms

Saw, can't write "according to". synonyms: constant dripping wears away the stone

Idiom story

In the Song Dynasty, there was a man named Zhang guaiya who served as a magistrate in Chongyang County. At that time, the social atmosphere in Chongyang County was very bad, and theft was common. Even the county government's money bank was often stolen. Zhang guaiya is determined to stop this unhealthy trend. One day, he finally found a chance. On that day, when he was patrolling around the yamen, he saw a petty official who was in charge of the county bank's money bank come out of the money bank in a hurry. Zhang guaiya called out to the bank official in a hurry: "what are you doing in such a hurry?" "Nothing." And the treasurer answered. Zhang guaiya thinks that the Treasury is often stolen, and judges that the Treasury officials may be keeping watch. He asked his entourage to search the storekeeper. As a result, a copper coin was found in the head scarf of the treasurer. Zhang guaiya escorts the treasurer back to the hall for interrogation, and asks him how much money he has stolen from the Treasury. The treasurer refuses to admit that he has stolen money in addition, so Zhang guaiya orders him to be tortured. The official refused and said angrily, "what's so great about stealing a copper coin? How can you torture me like this? You can only beat me. Can you still kill me? " Zhang guaiya was very angry when he saw that the treasurer dared to contradict himself in this way. He picked up the writing brush and pronounced the sentence: "one money a day, one thousand money a thousand days, the rope is sawed and the wood is broken, the water drips through the stone." It means that if you steal one copper coin a day, you will steal one thousand copper coins a thousand days. If you keep sawing wood with a rope, the wood will be cut; if you keep dripping water, the stone will be penetrated. At the end of the sentence, Zhang guaiya ordered the Yamen officers to take them to the execution ground and behead them. Since then, the theft in Chongyang County has been stopped, and the social atmosphere has greatly improved.