a drop in the bucket(jiǔ niú yī máo)

a drop in the bucket

Jiuniuyimao, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is Ji ǔ Ni ú y ī m á o, which means a hair on the body of the nine cows. It refers to tiny, slight, or very few in a large number. It comes from Sima Qian's letter to Ren Shaoqing in Han Dynasty.

The origin of Idioms

Sima Qian's "letter to Ren Shaoqing" in Han Dynasty: "if a servant is killed, if nine cattle die a hair, why is it different from mole ants?"

Idiom story

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (Liu Che) was very happy to hear that Li Ling had taken his troops to the Xiongnu border with him. At this time, many ministers were happy to congratulate the emperor on his wisdom and talent. Later, when Li Ling was defeated and surrendered, Emperor Wu was very angry, and the minister who had congratulated him also scolded Li Ling for being useless and unfaithful. At this time, Sima Qian stood by and said nothing. Emperor Wu asked him his opinion on this matter. Sima Qian said frankly that Li Ling had only 5000 infantry, but he was surrounded by 80000 Hun cavalry. However, he fought for more than ten days and killed more than 10000 enemies. He was really a great general. In the end, Li Ling stopped fighting because his grain was exhausted and his way back was cut off. Instead of surrender, Li Ling was waiting for an opportunity to serve his country. His credit can make up for his failure. Emperor Wu listened to his defense for Li Ling, and satirized the emperor's close relative Li Guangli who attacked the Xiongnu from the front. He moved Sima to prison. The next year, it was mistakenly said that Li Ling was training for Xiongnu. Emperor Wu didn't make it clear, so he killed Li Ling's mother and wife. In order to pander to the emperor, Ting Wei and Du Zhou falsely accused Sima Qian of the crime of framing the emperor, and even executed Sima Qian as the most cruel and humiliating "corrupt punishment". Sima Qian suffered from this kind of devastation, and he wanted to commit suicide. But on second thought, in the eyes of many rich and powerful people, the death of such a humble person is just like "nine oxen die a hair", which not only does not get sympathy, but also makes people laugh. So he decided to endure the humiliation and finish the writing of the great historical records with his own life and time. The ancients said that people with great courage have great wisdom. Sima Qian is such a person. He knew that in his time, it was better to die a man who had no status or fame than a dog. Therefore, he bravely lived on and finally completed the unprecedented great historical work historical records. Sima Qian told his good friend Ren Shaoqing about the change of his mind. Later on, according to the sentence "nine oxen die and one hair" in his letter, it was extended into the idiom "nine oxen and one hair". It is used to refer to something or a talent that is only a part of most people, just like a hair on nine oxen.

Idiom usage

It is used as subject, object and attribute; it refers to a very small number in a large number. In this case, the county magistrate can save tens of thousands of families in a city from poverty. Lu Jiuyuan, Song Dynasty

Chinese PinYin : jiǔ niú yī máo