ruling a great nation just like cooking a small delicacy(ruò pēng xiǎo xiān)

ruling a great nation just like cooking a small delicacy

As a Chinese idiom, the Pinyin is Ru ò P ē ngxi ǎ oxi ā n, which means that governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. If you cook small fish, you can't stir it too much. If you stir it too much, it's easy to rot. The latter is often used as a metaphor. From Laozi.

Analysis of Idioms

It's like cooking a small dish

The origin of Idioms

Laozi: "governing a big country is like cooking a small dish."

Idiom usage

As a predicate or attribute; used in figurative sentences. In Wang Chong's Lun Heng · nature of the Han Dynasty, it is said that "the common people, fish and animals, are governed by virtue. They are like cooking small delicacies, operating with the heaven and the earth." Tang Gaoshi's poem "a gift from Lu Ming's house:" he Xingfeng is on the road, willing to cook a little fresh. " Han Feizi: to govern a big country and to count the reform, the people suffer. Therefore, the king of Tao should be quiet and pay no attention to reform. So it is said: "he who governs a great country is like a cook." Yuan Mei of the Qing Dynasty wrote in his essays on cooking small delicacies: "Lao Tzu said that governing a big country is like cooking small delicacies. He said that those who cook small fish should not cut their scales and cut their abdomen, which is intended to simplify their ears."

Idioms and allusions

Allusion 1

"Laozi · Dejing · sixty chapters" governs a big country like a small dish. When the Tao comes to the world, the ghost is not God. It's not a ghost, it's not a God. Neither the gods nor the saints hurt people. Husband and wife do not hurt each other, so they have to return. Han · heshanggong's note: "when you cook a small fish, you don't have to remove its intestines or scales. You don't dare to scratch it, for fear that it will be minced. Wang Bi of the Three Kingdoms noted, "it's not disturbing. 」

Allusion 2

In Volume 6 of Han Feizi, explaining the old, it is like cooking a small dish to govern a big country. Wang Bi of the Three Kingdoms noted, "it's not disturbing. "Han · heshanggong notes:" fresh, fish. Don't go to intestines, don't go to scales, don't dare to scratch, afraid of its mi also. "If you cook small delicacies and scratch them several times, you will steal their wealth; if you govern a large country and count the changes, you will suffer the people. Therefore, the king of Tao should be quiet and pay no attention to reform. So it is said: "he who governs a large country cooks small delicacies. 』」

Chinese PinYin : ruò pēng xiǎo xiān