📖 Meaning
A small bamboo container that can hold only a limited amount. Used as a metaphor for a person of narrow mind and petty character, lacking broad vision or generosity. It disparages someone whose capacity, like the tiny vessel, is too small to accomplish great things.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom traces to the Analects (论语), chapter 'Zi Lu' (子路), compiled during the Spring and Autumn period. When asked about the worthiness of contemporary officeholders, Confucius dismissed them contemptuously, declaring, '噫！斗筲之人，何足算也' (Alas! Such small-vesselled people—how are they even worth counting?). The phrase 'dou shao' denotes small bamboo containers of meager capacity, which later writers extended into '斗筲之器' to brand those of shallow, narrow-minded disposition.
💡 Example Usage
他不过是个斗筲之器，怎能担此重任？
He is but a person of narrow mind and petty capacity—how could he shoulder such a heavy responsibility?
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 斗筲之器
- Pinyin: dǒu shāo zhī qì
- Literal Translation: dou, a dry measure, shao, a bamboo basket, of, vessel
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4