📖 Meaning
A metaphor for obtaining benefits through improper or dishonest means. Just as eating stolen food brings no genuine satisfaction, gains acquired through illegitimate methods are hollow, shameful, and ultimately unsustainable.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from Yan Zhitui's "Family Instructions of the Yan Clan" (《颜氏家训·省事》) during the Northern Qi dynasty. Yan criticized those who gained official positions by exploiting the vulnerabilities of ministers or by creating public disturbances to attract attention. He scornfully compared such opportunists to people who "steal food to fill their bellies" or "steal clothes to keep warm," arguing that ill-gotten gains are no different from theft. The passage reflects the Confucian scholar's deep concern with moral integrity in public life.
💡 Example Usage
靠行贿得来的职位，不过是盗食致饱，终究难长久。
A position obtained through bribery is nothing more than stealing food to fill one's belly—it cannot last.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 盗食致饱
- Pinyin: dào shí zhì bǎo
- Literal Translation: steal, food, cause, full
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4