What is the meaning of the idiom praying mantis catching cicadas ?

In the Spring and Autumn Period, King Wu decided to attack the state of Chu and did not allow anyone to dissuade him. He said: "Whoever dares to raise an objection will be put to death immediately!"

One of King Wu's "sherens" (attendants) had a son who was still young, and he wanted to persuade King Wu to give up his plan to attack Chu, but he did not dare to enter the palace to meet King Wu. He took a slingshot and a projectile and went to the garden behind the palace to shoot birds. I went three times in a row, and finally met King Wu in the garden one morning.

The king, there is a tree in the garden, and there are cicadas on it, and the cicadas are high and crying and drinking dew, and they don't know that the praying mantis is behind them; The praying mantis is committed to the song and wants to take the cicada, but does not know that the yellow finch is also beside it; The yellow finch stretches its neck to peck at the mantis, but does not know that the projectile is also under it. All three of them want to get their former benefits and ignore their future troubles! There was a cicada in the tree, and it was singing and drinking dew, and it was very happy, but it knew that there was a praying mantis behind it; The praying mantis bent over and stretched out its forearms, thinking that it would be easy to catch this cicada to satisfy its hunger, but how did it know that there was another yellow finch behind it; The yellow finch stretched its neck and was about to peck at the praying mantis, but how could the yellow finch know that there was a projectile waiting for it behind it.

Cicadas, praying mantises, and yellow finches, they only see the immediate benefits, but they can't see the scourge hidden behind them!

When King Wu heard this, he thought that this child's words were very interesting, thought about it, and said, "Yes, you said it very well. So, the matter of Vachu was put aside.

This story is also described in "Wu Yue Chunqiu: Fucha Neibiography" and "Zhuangzi Shanmu". According to the record of "Wu Yue Spring and Autumn Period", the king of Wu is not going to conquer this time, not the Chu state, but the Qi state; It was not the youngest son of the "Sheren" who advised King Wu, but the prince's friend; King Wu also did not accept the advice ("King Wu did not listen to the prince's advice, so he went north to Qi"). The Zhuangzi is even more different, it does not record the matter of advising the king of Wu, but a passage written by the author Zhuang Zhou in the form of a self-report.

It is to the effect that "Zhuang travels around the chestnut garden, sees a cicada, and forgets its body with beautiful shade; The praying mantis fights with its persistence, and forgets when it sees it; Strange magpies thus benefit, see the benefits and forget their truth"; Zhuang Zhou was about to shoot a magpie with a projectile, but the management of the chestnut orchard thought that Zhuang Zhou was going to steal the chestnuts and drove him out of the garden.

In terms of storyline, the three are similar. Later, the idiom "praying mantis catches cicadas, yellow finches are behind" is ** here.

There is irony in this idiom. Here, the irony is limited to the "praying mantis", excluding the "cicada", nor the "yellow finch" and "the person who plays the finch". People compare the praying mantis that tries to catch cicadas to a short-sighted character who only sees immediate interests and ignores the great dangers behind him, and satirizes his delusional desire to infringe on the other party who seems to be weaker than him, without knowing that he is already under the serious threat of a stronger third party.

Song Dynasty Xue Jixuan poem: "Praying mantis catches cicadas and finches catch praying mantises". That is, the meaning of "the praying mantis catches the cicada, and the yellow finch is behind".

This idiom sometimes only says the first half of the sentence: "praying mantis catches cicadas" or "praying mantis fights cicadas", "praying mantis serves cicadas". Just like the afterword, only saying the first half of the sentence brings out the meaning of the second half of the sentence "the yellow finch is behind".

Translation. The praying mantis is trying to catch the cicada, but it doesn't know that the yellow finch is behind it and is about to eat it. Today refers to the fact that people are only concerned with the immediate interests and do not care about the hidden evils behind them.

Implied meaning. The praying mantis catches the cicada, and the yellow finch follows" reminds people not to focus on immediate interests without considering the consequences.

1. Praying mantis catching cicadas is an idiom, pinyin táng láng bǔ chán, which refers to people who are short-sighted, have no foresight, and only care about pursuing immediate interests.

2. Synonyms: rat eyes, quick success, preemptive, sitting on the fishing profit, snipe and clam fighting, fisherman profit;

3. Antonyms: forward-looking, far-sighted.

Zhuyin 一式 Hanyu Pinyin táng láng bǔ chán Source: 《庄子》山木: Seeing a cicada, you can get the beautiful shade, and forget its body. The praying mantis fights with its eyes, sees it and forgets its shape.

Strange magpies thus benefit, see the benefits and forget their truth"; Zhao Ye Wu Yue Chunqiu: The praying mantis catches cicadas, aiming to be advantageous, and does not know that God will peck at the yellow finch in the back.

Interpretation Catch: pounce. The metaphor is to see only the immediate benefits, regardless of the future troubles.

Can be used in combination with Yellow Finch in the back. The praying mantis was about to catch the cicada, not knowing that the yellow finch was behind it and wanted to eat it. The metaphor is short-sighted, only greedy for immediate benefits and ignores future troubles.

Usage] is a metaphor for short-sightedness, only thinking of calculating others, but not expecting someone to calculate himself. Example sentence When he started stealing again, he didn't expect that the police had already ambushed the scene, the praying mantis catching cicadas, and the yellow finch was behind! The thief was caught right away.

You Bi: The pickpocket didn't know that there was a police officer behind him, and he was about to steal the money in his purse, but he was caught by the police. It's really a praying mantis catching cicadas, and the yellow finch is behind. Xiao Ming snatched Xiaohua's candy, and before he could eat it, he was snatched away by another bad boy.

Xiao Ming is a praying mantis catching cicadas! He wanted to make huge profits, but unexpectedly, the praying mantis caught the cicada, but fell into the trap set by others. He only wanted to plot against others, but he didn't expect that this time he was actually praying mantis catching cicadas and was plotted behind his back.

Similar words Praying mantis catching cicadas, yellow finches are behind, seeing forgetful opposite words looking forward and backward.

The praying mantis catches the cicada, and the yellow finch is behind" from "Zhuangzi Shanmu". satirizes those who only care about immediate interests and do not care about the disasters behind them; A warning to such people who are blind-eyed, dizzy, and disregard for future troubles.

Praying mantis catching cicadas: Praying mantis wants to catch cicadas, but they don't know the potential dangers. The metaphor is short-sighted and has no foresight. Wait for the moment to strike from behind. It is also a metaphor for having worries.

Original text: King Wu wanted to cut down Jing and told him to say: "Those who dare to admonish will die!"

If you don't dare to admonish someone who has a few children, then you will have a pill to play it, swim in the back garden, and show its clothes, such as three. King Wu said: "Son, why bother to get your clothes like this?

He said: "There is a tree in the garden, and there are cicadas on it, and the cicadas are high in sorrow and cry and drink dew, and I don't know that the praying mantis is behind them; The praying mantis is committed to the song and wants to take the cicada, but does not know that the yellow finch is also beside it; The yellow finch stretches its neck to peck at the mantis, but does not know that the projectile is also under it. All three of them want to reap the benefits of the past, regardless of the troubles that follow.

King Wu said: "Good! "It's a dismissal.