📖 Meaning
A trivial or insignificant skill; petty cleverness not worth serious pursuit. It is a variant of the more common idiom 雕虫小技, often used to modestly belittle one's own abilities or to dismiss something as shallow and unworthy.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the Song-era work 《全唐诗话》 attributed to You Mao, in a commentary on the Tang dynasty poet Zhang Hu. Zhang Hu was known for technically skillful but ornate verse, which was dismissed with the remark that such 'trivial cleverness' (雕虫小巧) was something a serious-minded man (壮夫) would not bother with. This reflects the traditional literati contempt for superficially clever but ultimately shallow literary craft.
💡 Example Usage
这点雕虫小巧算不得什么真本事，别拿出来炫耀了。
Such petty cleverness is no real skill—don't go showing it off.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 雕虫小巧
- Pinyin: diāo chóng xiǎo qiǎo
- Literal Translation: carve, insect, small, clever
- Category: Skill
- Characters: 4