📖 Meaning
A metaphor for pursuing immediate gain while being blind to the greater danger closing in from behind. It describes someone so fixated on a short-term advantage that they are completely unaware of imminent disaster.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from Liu Xiang's 'Shuo Yuan' (Garden of Stories) in the Han Dynasty, in the chapter 'Zheng Jian' (Frank Admonition). The parable describes a mantis crouching to catch a cicada, unaware that a yellow oriole behind it is stretching its neck to devour the mantis — while a boy below is aiming a slingshot at the oriole. The story was used by a courtier to warn the King of Wu against attacking the state of Chu while ignoring the threat from other rival states.
💡 Example Usage
他只顾着算计对手，却不知黄雀伺蝉，自己早已成了别人的猎物。
He was so busy scheming against his rival that he never realized he was the oriole's cicada — someone else had already marked him as prey.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 黄雀伺蝉
- Pinyin: huáng què sì chán
- Literal Translation: yellow, sparrow, ambushes, cicada
- Category: Wisdom
- Characters: 4