The mink is insufficient, the dog tail continues(diāo bù zú，gǒu wěi xù)

The mink is insufficient, the dog tail continues

Mink is not enough, dog tail is continued. It means to take something bad and put it behind something good. The front and back parts are very out of proportion.

Mink is a kind of animal with precious fur. The emperor's attendants decorated their hats with mink tails. According to the biography of Zhao Wang Lun in the book of Jin, at that time, due to the excessive appointment of officials and the shortage of mink tail, it was replaced by dog tail, which was "the shortage of mink and the continuation of dog tail", and later evolved into "the continuation of mink with dog tail".

The origin of Idioms

original text

Volume 59 of the book of Jin (biographies of Zhao Wang Lun) to 602 Lun, 5000 soldiers entered ziduanmen and ascended Taiji hall. Manfen, Cui Sui and Le Guang entered the Imperial Palace, and the imperial throne was usurped. The emperor was granted amnesty and the Yuan Dynasty was changed to Jianshi. At the age of 20, all of them were officials; the commander of the county's two thousand stones, who had been in office for 20 years, were Marquis; the county's discipline and discipline were both Xiaolian, and the county's discipline and discipline were incorruptible officials. Shiziyin is the crown prince, Fu is the Shizhong, Dasinong, linghujun, jingzhaowang, Qian is the Shizhong, dajianglingjun, Guangping Wang, who is called the Shizhong, Fujun general, and Baicheng king. Sun Xiu is the Shizhong, zhongshujian, Puqi general, Yitong San Si, Zhang Lin and other parties are all the ministers and generals. The rest of the accomplices were not able to win the discipline, and the slaves and soldiers were also knighted. At every court meeting, Diao Chan sits with a lot of money. The saying of the people at that time is, "if there are not enough Diao, the tail of the dog will continue.". "Zhaoming Wenxuan Volume 38 (table below: the first table for fan Shangshu to confer the title of marquis) to 737 - in Tang Dynasty, Li Shanzhu quoted Yu Yu Yu's Jinlu as saying:" when Zhao WangLun usurped the throne, he served 97 people. In every dynasty, the court is full of villains and half of Diao Chan. When people rumor that: mink shortage, dog tail continued. 」

translation

Five thousand soldiers of Sima Lun's entourage entered through Duanmen and ascended Taiji hall. Man Fen, Cui Sui and Le Guang presented Sima Lun with the seal of the jade seal. Then Sima Lun became emperor and granted amnesty to the whole world, and changed his name to Jianshi. In this year, there were no examinations for virtuous, upright, outspoken, scholar, filial and honest, and good generals; Ji Li, envoys in Beijing, Tai students over the age of 16, and 20-year-old people who were studying were all appointed as officials; the magistrate over 2000 stones of counties and counties were appointed as Marquis when the amnesty happened, and the people who were in office were all appointed as marquis. The eldest son of Ren was the prince. Sima Fu was the Shizhong, the eldest Si Nong, the leading guard and the king of Jingzhao. Sima Qian was the Shizhong, the leading general and the king of Guangping. Sima boasted of being the Shizhong, the general of Fujun and the king of Baicheng. Sun Xiu was the Shizhong, the commander of Zhongshu, the general of Puma and the third division of Yitong. Zhang Lin and other parties all ascended the position of minister and general, and greatly rewarded them. The rest of the accomplices were promoted out of the ordinary way, and even those who were slaves, servants, soldiers and miscellaneous servants were awarded the position of nobility. Every time the imperial court met, the Diao cicada crowns were full. At that time, people said as a proverb, "if there are not enough Diao, the dog's tail will continue."

analysis

Sima Lun, king of Zhao in Jin Dynasty, was cunning, insidious and ambitious. He colluded with sun Xiu and plotted to usurp the throne. In order to succeed in usurping the throne, he also made official titles to his subordinates and their families. At that time, officials in the upper court all wore mink tail hats. Because there were too many officials and there were not enough mink tails, they used dog tails instead. The king of Qi sent troops to fight against Sima Lun and help him restore his mind. Mink is a kind of animal with precious fur. The emperor's attendants decorated their hats with mink tail. At that time, due to the excessive appointment of officials and the shortage of mink tail, it was replaced by dog tail. At that time, people used the folk saying "mink is insufficient, dog tail continues" to satirize.

Idiom explanation

① It's too much to direct officials. ② It refers to the inadequacy in beauty or shoddy.

Examples of entries

[example] prose is a success in the literary circle, but this year's anthologies are among the top three, which makes people feel like "mink is not enough, dog's tail is not enough.". Lu Xun's "quasi Fengyue talk from deaf to dumb"

Chinese PinYin : diāo bù zú，gǒu wěi xù