揠苗助长

Yà Miáo Zhù Zhǎng

把禾苗一棵棵拔高,想让它们快点长大。比喻违反规律,急于求成,反而把事情弄坏。

Pulling up the seedlings to help them grow — forcing things along against their nature only ruins what you were trying to help.

shíhòusòngguóyǒunóngzàitiánzhǒngleduōmiáoměitiāndōutiánkànshìmiáozhǎngdehěnmànxīnfēichángzháo

yǒutiānránxiǎngchūlehǎobàn”。pǎodàotiánmiáodewǎngshàngràngmenkànláidōuzhǎnggāolejiécóngzǎomángdàowǎnlèideyāosuānbèitòngxīnquèhěn

huídàojiāduìérzishuō:“jīntiānlèihuàileguòbāngmiáozhǎnggāole!”érzitīnglejuédeguàigǎnjǐnpǎodàotiánkànshìtiándemiáoquándōule

miáozhùzhǎngjiùshìcóngzhèshìláidegàomenzuòshìyàoànzhàoguīláinéngtàizháofǒudànméiyǒubāngzhùháihuìshìqíngnònghuài

Long ago in the state of Song, there was a farmer who planted a field of rice seedlings. Every day he went out to look, but the little plants grew so slowly that he became very impatient.

One day he thought of a “clever idea.” He went into the field and pulled each seedling upward, just a little, so they all looked taller. He worked from morning until night, aching all over, but feeling very pleased with himself.

Back home, he told his son, “I'm exhausted today — but I helped the seedlings grow!” The son thought this was strange and hurried out to check. Every single seedling in the field had withered and died.

From this story comes “pulling up seedlings to help them grow.” It reminds us that rushing against nature does not help — it only ruins what you were trying to save.