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shě 舍 běn 本 zhú 逐 mò 末

舍本逐末 shě běn zhú mò

to attend to trifles and neglect essentials; to put the cart before the horse

Literally: abandon root chase tip

Advanced 🦉 Wisdom & judgement
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Origin

From the Lüshi Chunqiu (Shang Nong), which criticizes 舍本而事末 — abandoning agriculture, the root, to pursue trade, the branch.

How to use it

Predicate; negative. Often 这样做是舍本逐末.

Example sentences

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  1. 只追求考试分数而忽视能力培养，无异于舍本逐末。
    Zhǐ zhuīqiú kǎoshì fēnshù ér hūshì nénglì péiyǎng, wúyì yú shě běn zhú mò.
    Chasing exam scores while neglecting the development of real ability is putting the cart before the horse.
    only pursue exam score and neglect ability cultivate, no-different from abandon root chase tip
  2. 公司把大量资金花在广告上，却不改进产品质量，这是舍本逐末。
    Gōngsī bǎ dàliàng zījīn huā zài guǎnggào shàng, què bù gǎijìn chǎnpǐn zhìliàng, zhè shì shě běn zhú mò.
    The company pours money into advertising but does not improve product quality; this is neglecting the essentials for the trivial.
    company (object marker) large-amount fund spend at advertising on, yet not improve product quality, this is abandon root chase tip

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