📖 Meaning
To fail to recognize or appreciate the kindness or good intentions that others show toward one. It describes someone who ignores or rejects the favor, honor, or praise offered to them, often perceived as ungrateful or unworthy of the goodwill shown.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in the Ming dynasty novel 'Fengshen Yanyi' (Investiture of the Gods), attributed to Xu Zhonglin. In the seventh chapter, the character Daji berates the concubine Jiang Huan, who refuses to yield to her schemes, with the words 'This lowly woman does not appreciate kindness shown to her' (这贱人不识抬举). The phrase 'tai ju' originally means to lift up or promote, and by extension refers to the favor and esteem someone bestows upon another, so to be 'bu shi tai ju' is to be blind to that favor. Over time it became a common rebuke for ungratefulness or for rejecting well-meant help.
💡 Example Usage
领导特意提拔你，你却当面拒绝，真是太不识抬举了。
The leader went out of his way to promote you, yet you turned it down to his face — you really don't know how to appreciate a good thing.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 不识抬举
- Pinyin: bù shí tái jǔ
- Literal Translation: not, know, lift up, promote
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4