📖 Meaning
To give free rein to one's own impulses and thereby lose the support of others. It warns that acting purely on personal whim without regard for the collective will alienate one's followers, allies, or subordinates.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no widely recorded classical literary source or specific historical anecdote attached to it. Its meaning is conveyed through the gloss '逞' as '放任' (to indulge or let run unchecked). Rather than being tied to a particular dynasty or named figure, it crystallizes a perennial observation found throughout Chinese wisdom literature about the dangers of unchecked self-will in leadership. It has been transmitted as a folk aphorism rather than a story-bound quotation.
💡 Example Usage
管理者若逞己失众，终将失去团队的信任。
A manager who indulges his own whims at everyone else's expense will ultimately lose the team's trust.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 逞己失众
- Pinyin: chěng jǐ shī zhòng
- Literal Translation: indulge, oneself, lose, the masses
- Category: Leadership
- Characters: 4