📖 Meaning
To buy oxen and put away weapons, originally referring to soldiers laying down arms to take up farming. It metaphorically describes abandoning a violent or criminal path to pursue an honest, productive livelihood. The idiom conveys the ideal of turning from warfare to peaceful life.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom shares its spirit with the well-known story of 卖剑买牛 from the Western Han Dynasty. When Gong Sui (龚遂) was appointed governor of Bohai Commandery, the region was plagued by banditry and unrest. Rather than using force, Gong Sui persuaded the people to sell their weapons and buy oxen for plowing the fields, encouraging them to return to agriculture. The phrase 买牛息戈 echoes this same theme of renouncing violence in favor of a peaceful farming life.
💡 Example Usage
经过多年战乱，百姓渴望买牛息戈，重新过上安定的农耕生活。
After years of war, the people longed to lay down their weapons and return to farming, to live a peaceful agrarian life once more.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 买牛息戈
- Pinyin: mǎi niú xī gē
- Literal Translation: buy, ox, put down, halberd
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4