DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
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
- (lit.) the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the siskin behind (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子 Zhuāng zǐ)
- (fig.) to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger
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
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Connected dictionary
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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 ↗