📖 Meaning
When the legendary horse judge Bole passed through the northern Ji region, he picked out all the fine horses and the herds were left empty. The idiom is a metaphor for a person of insight who recognizes and promotes all available talent, so that gifted people meet their appreciator and are elevated.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom derives from a Tang Dynasty essay by Han Yu titled "Preface Seeing Off Scholar Wen to the Heyang Army" (送温处士赴河阳军序). Han Yu invokes the ancient legend of Bole (伯乐), the celebrated connoisseur of fine horses, recounting that when Bole traveled through the wilds of northern Ji (冀北), he identified and selected every excellent steed, leaving the herds emptied. By analogy, the phrase came to signify a discerning leader who spots and gathers up all the talent around him.
💡 Example Usage
这位主帅知人善任，所到之处群空冀北，人才尽被发掘提拔。
The commander excels at recognizing talent; wherever he goes, all the gifted people are singled out and promoted, just as Bole emptied the herds of northern Ji.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 群空冀北
- Pinyin: qún kōng jì běi
- Literal Translation: herd, emptied, Ji, north
- Category: Leadership
- Characters: 4