📖 Meaning
To shun what is arduous or complex and instead vie for what is quick and easy. It describes a tendency to seek shortcuts and favor expedience over thoroughness, often at the expense of substance or depth.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the late Qing dynasty scholar-diplomat Xue Fucheng's essay 'On Elections, Part 2' (《选举论下》). Xue criticized the imperial civil service examination system, observing that evaluators increasingly relied on superficial criteria like small-regular-script calligraphy (小楷) because such standards allowed quick, effortless judgment. Both examiners and candidates gravitated toward this fast-and-easy approach, gradually forgetting the original purpose of selecting talent based on substantive knowledge. Over time, this culture of 'avoiding complexity and competing on speed' perpetuated itself, eroding the integrity of the examination system.
💡 Example Usage
做学问须脚踏实地，不可避烦斗捷，贪图省事。
In pursuing scholarship, one must be down-to-earth and not seek shortcuts by avoiding complexity and competing on mere speed.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 避烦斗捷
- Pinyin: bì fán dòu jié
- Literal Translation: avoid trouble, compete in quickness
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4