📖 Meaning
To select and appoint people of virtue and talent to positions of responsibility. It emphasizes the importance of merit-based selection in governance and management. The phrase advocates choosing the wise and capable rather than relying on personal connections or favoritism.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom appears in the 'Jiu Tang Shu' (Old Book of Tang), specifically in the 'Treatise on Food and Commodities' (食货志). The text discusses the proper establishment of government offices and assignment of duties, stating that selecting worthy and capable officials brings benefit to the state, while appointing the wrong people brings harm to the common people. The phrase reflects the long-standing Confucian ideal of meritocratic governance. A later usage appears in Qing dynasty scholar Wang Fuzhi's 'Du Tongjian Lun' (Reading the Comprehensive Mirror), where he invokes the concept in discussing the public duty of supporting the state.
💡 Example Usage
治理国家必须选贤任能，方能国泰民安。
To govern a country, one must select the worthy and appoint the capable; only then can the nation enjoy peace and prosperity.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 选贤任能
- Pinyin: xuǎn xián rèn néng
- Literal Translation: select, the worthy, appoint, the capable
- Category: Leadership
- Characters: 4