📖 Meaning
To be greedy for material gain while abandoning moral principles and righteousness. It describes someone who prioritizes personal profit over ethical conduct, betraying trust and justice for money.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Ming Dynasty story collection 'Chuke Pai'an Jingqi' (Slapping the Table in Amazement, First Collection) by Ling Mengchu. In the tale 'Yao Dizhu Avoids Shame but Invites Shame,' Yao Dizhu, a daughter from a respectable family, becomes a concubine of Scholar Jiang but is rejected by his principal wife. A man named Lian, greedy for profit and forgetful of righteousness, then sells her to Zheng Mama's establishment. The phrase encapsulates the moral failing of sacrificing ethical obligations for monetary gain.
💡 Example Usage
他贪利忘义，为了几万块钱出卖了多年的朋友。
He forgot all righteousness for the sake of profit, betraying a friend of many years for a few tens of thousands of yuan.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 贪利忘义
- Pinyin: tān lì wàng yì
- Literal Translation: covet profit, forget righteousness
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4