go for the small things and miss things that are worthwhile

go for the small things and miss things that are worthwhile

As a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is t ā nxi ǎ OSH ī D à, which means to lose big profits because of greedy for small and cheap. It is a metaphor for seeking immediate benefits without considering long-term benefits. It comes from Quan Xun, the spring and Autumn Annals of the Lu family.

Analysis of Idioms

[synonyms]: lose more than gain, lose more than gain, kill the chicken to get the egg [antonyms]: kill two birds with one stone, beg for wine [homonyms]: the wind and the moon, riding a tiger, being upright, weeping, procrastinating, abusing the top but not the bottom, silver cup eclosion, all the way up and down, not leaving a hair, equal fame and price

The origin of Idioms

In the Warring States period, Lu Buwei's "Lu's spring and Autumn Annals: Quan Xun": "the king of Qi said angrily," if you can destroy Lizi, can evil be given as gold? " When he fought with Yan people, he was defeated, Dazi died, and the king of Qi left Ju. Yan people went north to enter the country, competing with each other for gold in the United States. This is also true of those who are greedy for small profits and lose big profits. "

Idiom usage

It means that people don't know how to calculate. This is called "greedy for small things while losing big ones". Therefore, we should never do anything to seek cheap things! In the first three chapters of the 16th volume of Ling Mengchu's the surprise of making a case at the beginning of Ming Dynasty: "it's not that Wu Yong's plan is to win over Di Lei but abandon Yizhou Prefecture. "The first three chapters of dangkouzhi:" it's not greedy to win Di Lei, but abandon Yizhou Prefecture. It's just Wu Yong's plan. "The first three chapters of dangkouzhi:" it's not greedy to win Di Lei, but abandon Yizhou Prefecture. It's just Wu Yong's plan. "The first three chapters of dangkouzhi:" it's not greedy to win Di Lei, but abandon Yizhou Prefecture. It's just Wu Yong's plan. 」

Idioms and allusions

During the Warring States period, King Huiwen of Qin Dynasty wanted to annex Shu, which was rich in natural resources. Some people offered to make stone cattle to give to the Marquis of Shu. The Marquis of Shu was intrigued and ordered migrant workers to open mountains and fill valleys and pave roads to meet the stone cattle. King Huiwen of Qin asked the army to follow the transportation team to destroy Shu. People ridiculed the Marquis of Shu for being greedy for small profits and losing big profits.

original text

The Marquis of Shu was greedy, and King Hui of Qin wanted to attack him. The mountain stream is precipitous, and the military road is blocked. It was carved stone for cattle, mostly with gold, and was named "gold of cow dung" after the fourth cow, leaving the fifth Marquis of Shu. When the Marquis of Shu was greedy, he took the mountain to fill the valley, and sent five dins to meet the stone ox. Qin's death came later, destroying the country and the body, which was laughed at by the whole world. He was greedy for small profits and lost big profits. (from Liu Zhou's greedy acceptance)

translation

The king of Shu was greedy by nature. After hearing this, King Hui of Qin wanted to attack him. The mountain roads and deep streams leading to Shu were very steep, and the army had no way to get to Shu. So the Qin army carved stone cattle and put many valuable things behind them, known as "cow dung". It's for the kingdom of Shu. The king of Shu was greedy for treasures, so he split the mountain road to fill the valley and sent five strong men to meet the stone ox. The army led by King Hui of Qin followed closely, which led to the destruction of the kingdom of Shu. The king of Shu died, and he was ridiculed by people all over the world because Xiao Li lost his country.