📖 Meaning
To seize upon what is essential and hold fast to the fundamental. The phrase describes an approach of identifying the core principles at the heart of a matter rather than getting lost in details. It emphasizes the wisdom of prioritizing root causes over superficial symptoms.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the 'Treatise on Literature' (艺文志) in the Book of Han (汉书), compiled by Ban Gu (班固) of the Eastern Han dynasty. The passage discusses the Daoist school (道家), noting that its practitioners arose from among court historians who recorded the rise and fall, fortune and misfortune of states throughout history. Through such study, they came to understand how to grasp the essential and hold to the fundamental, maintaining emptiness and humility as guiding principles. The text characterizes this as the art of governing from the throne.
💡 Example Usage
管理者应当秉要执本，才能在复杂局面中保持清醒。
A manager should grasp the essential and hold to the fundamental in order to stay clear-headed amid complex situations.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 秉要执本
- Pinyin: bǐng yào zhí běn
- Literal Translation: grasp, essential, hold, fundamental
- Category: Wisdom
- Characters: 4