📖 Meaning
To prize the young and robust while disdaining the elderly and frail. It describes a utilitarian mindset that judges people solely by their physical strength and productivity, disregarding the wisdom and experience of age. The idiom often carries a critical tone, implying a lack of humanity and respect for elders.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the "Records of the Grand Historian" (《史记》), in the chapter on the Xiongnu nomads (《匈奴列传》), written by Sima Qian during the Han dynasty. He observed that among the Xiongnu, the strong and healthy young men ate the best and richest food, while the elderly were left with the leftovers. The Xiongnu customarily esteemed physical vigor and looked down upon the old and weak. Sima Qian recorded this practice as a distinctive cultural trait of the steppe nomads, contrasting it with the Confucian reverence for elders prevalent in Han Chinese society.
💡 Example Usage
这种贵壮贱老的用人观念，不利于企业长远发展。
This hiring mindset of valuing only the young and strong while dismissing the old is detrimental to the long-term development of a company.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 贵壮贱老
- Pinyin: guì zhuàng jiàn lǎo
- Literal Translation: value, strong, despise, old
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4