📖 Meaning
This idiom describes being lured and bound by the pursuit of wealth and reputation. It conveys how the desire for profit entangles a person while the hunger for fame drags them along, preventing a life of freedom and contentment. A variant form is 利绾名牵.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase appears in classical Chinese literature reflecting longstanding philosophical traditions—particularly Daoist and Buddhist thought—that caution against attachment to worldly success. No single definitive source text is cited; rather, the expression crystallizes a theme common across many dynasties where scholars and hermits alike warned that fortune and renown act as invisible tethers. The variant 利绾名牵, using 绾 (to bind) in place of 惹, conveys the same idea of being knotted and led astray by worldly ambitions.
💡 Example Usage
他看透官场，不愿被利惹名牵，遂辞官归隐田园。
Having seen through the workings of officialdom, he refused to be entangled by profit and fame, and so resigned his post to retire to the countryside.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 利惹名牵
- Pinyin: lì rě míng qiān
- Literal Translation: profit, entangle, fame, pull
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4