toil with no gain
Chinese idiom, Pinyin is l á o é RW ú g ō ng, which means to spend effort, but not to achieve results. From Guanzi · situation.
The origin of Idioms
Guanzi · situation chapter: "it's impossible to cooperate with others, it's impossible to be strong, it's impossible to tell others, it's futile."
Idiom usage
Contractive; used as predicate, object and attribute; used to evaluate the effect of a person's work. Example in order of Mozi: "the earth is not allowed to do its duty; then the labor is futile." Chuang Tzu's Tianyun: "today, Qi travels in Zhou and Lu. It's just like pushing a boat on land. It's useless." Lu's filial piety in the spring and Autumn Period: if you want to seek the origin, you will get it after ten days; if you want to seek the end, you will get nothing Ruan Kuisheng, Qing Dynasty: Yuan Wenqing of Qing Dynasty said: "when you were young, you had five mistakes in reading: you had no choice, but you were too broad to be important; when you were good at the words and deeds of the ancients, you often recoiled and didn't dare to look, but you were too cowardly to stand up; when you usurped the truth, you had to change it again and again, but you had no success; when you heard about people's strong points, you would follow them quickly, but you were too quick to follow; when you like to learn, you couldn't succeed If we keep our roots, we will lose them. "
Analysis of Idioms
The opposite is to enjoy success without effort
Chinese PinYin : láo ér wú gōng
toil with no gain
stick to a thing once begun. yī bū zuò,èr bù xiū
Think twice before you think twice. cháng lǜ hòu gù