Chinese Idiom: 拔苗助长 (Ba Miao Zhu Zhang)
English Translation: Pulling up seedlings to help them grow
pīn yīn: bá miáo zhù zhǎng
Idiom Meaning: This idiom describes the folly of trying to rush progress or achieve results quickly, which ultimately leads to negative consequences.
Historical Source: “Mencius” (《孟子》) by the philosopher Mencius (Mengzi).
Idiom Story:
Mencius, a renowned thinker, politician, and educator from the state of Lu during the Warring States period, is considered a prominent follower of Confucianism and often referred to as the “Second Sage.” His work, “Mencius,” consists of seven chapters filled with profound ideas and eloquent language.
One day, Mencius shared a cautionary tale with his student, Gongsun Chou:
In the state of Song, there was a farmer who was impatient with the slow growth of his rice seedlings. Frustrated by their lack of progress, he went to his field and began to pull the seedlings up to make them grow taller. Exhausted from his efforts, he returned home and proudly told his family, “I worked hard today to help the seedlings grow taller by several inches.”
His son, alarmed by his father’s statement, quickly ran to the field to check. To his dismay, he found that all the seedlings had withered and died.
This story illustrates the danger of being overly eager for success and disregarding the natural development process. The moral is that rushing results, without understanding the necessary time and conditions for growth, can lead to failure.
As a result, the idiom “拔苗助长” serves as a reminder that patience and respect for the natural course of events are essential for achieving lasting success.
