resort to stopgap measure detrimental to one 's long-term interest

resort to stopgap measure detrimental to one 's long-term interest

Gouge out the flesh to cure the sores, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is w ā NR ò uy ī Chu ā ng, a metaphor for only looking at the present, using harmful methods to save the emergency. It comes from Nie Yizhong's Ode to Tian family in Tang Dynasty.

The origin of Idioms

Nie Yizhong's poem "Ode to Tian family" in Tang Dynasty: "sell new silk in February, sell new Valley in May; cure sore in front of eyes, gouge out heart flesh."

Idiom usage

To use a harmful method to save an emergency is to use a poisonous method to cure a sore. History of the Ming Dynasty: biography of Wei Chengrun

Analysis of Idioms

[synonym]: gouge out the flesh to mend the sores, dig out the flesh to mend the sores

Idiom story

Nie Yizhong, a poet of Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Ode to Tian Jia". The poem goes like this: "sell new silk in February, sell new Valley in May. Cure the sore in front of your eyes, but gouge out the flesh of your heart. I wish your heart would turn into a candle of light. Not according to the banquet, only according to the escape room. "Let's explain it one by one. The first sentence "sell new silk in February" is about selling new silk in February. February is the time for silkworms to cocoon, but the farmers have to sell their new silk because they have no food or flowers. "Selling new grain in May" means selling new grain. Rice seedlings are just planted in May, and the grain can only be harvested in autumn. However, because of the pressure of life, there is no way to live without selling this grain. New silk and grain have been sold. What should we do after they are sold out? no way out. This is the meaning of "cure the sore in front of your eyes, but gouge out the flesh in your heart". If you want to starve now, you should solve the problem of starvation first. To sell all the new silk and new grain is to gouge out the meat and replenish it first to solve the urgent problem. Then he said, "I wish the king's heart would turn into a candle of light", which means that the poet hopes that the king's heart of a country should shine like a shining candle, not only to light up a room, but also to shine like the sun. The last two sentences said: "not according to the banquet, only according to the escape room. "That is to say, the emperor should not patronize the people in front of him. Rich children, rich families, they do not worry about food and clothing all day long, but to see more people, to see what kind of life they are living when they leave their homes, flee and become refugees. The emperor should see how the common people live in deep water. The idiom "gouging out the flesh to cure the sores" refers to looking only at the present and using harmful methods to save the emergency.