螳螂捕蟬,黃雀在後

简 螳螂捕蝉,黄雀在后 · 繁 螳螂捕蟬,黃雀在後
Mandarin · pinyin táng láng bǔ chán , huáng què zài hòu

Meanings

  1. (lit.) the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the siskin behind (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子 Zhuāng zǐ)
  2. (fig.) to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

螳
táng · mantis
螂
láng · mantis, dung beetle
捕
bǔ · arrest, catch, seize
蟬
Look up this written character
黃
huáng · yellow; surname; Kangxi radical 201
雀
què · sparrow
在
zài · be at, in, on; consist in, rest
後
hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
蝉
chán · cicada; continuous
黄
huáng · yellow; surname
后
hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Connected dictionary

10character links1source reference
Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

螳螂捕蟬,黃雀在後 · find source passages ↗ · 螳螂捕蝉,黄雀在后 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

螳螂捕蟬,黃雀在後 · tang2 lang2 bu3 chan2 , huang2 que4 zai4 hou4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 97,631
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record螳螂捕蟬,黃雀在後 螳螂捕蝉,黄雀在后 [tang2 lang2 bu3 chan2 , huang2 que4 zai4 hou4] /(lit.) the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the siskin behind (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3])/(fig.) to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger/