📖 Meaning
A metaphor for how a single positive influence is overwhelmed by numerous negative ones, making achievement impossible. It originates from the idea that one Qi-dialect teacher cannot prevail against a crowd of Chu-dialect speakers. Used to describe a situation where one's resolve or pursuit is easily shaken by the surrounding majority.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom draws on a story from Mencius, in which a man from the state of Qi wants his son to learn the Chu dialect. Even with one Qi teacher instructing him daily, surrounded by countless Chu speakers, the boy could not master it—showing that one positive voice cannot overcome a chorus of opposing ones. The phrase was later quoted by the Ming dynasty Neo-Confucian philosopher Wang Shouren (Wang Yangming) in his letter 'To the Students of Chenzhong,' lamenting that few seek the Way after the decline of true learning, and that one seeker among many worldly influences is easily swayed.
💡 Example Usage
身处这般浮躁之地，一齐众楚，想要静心向学实在不易。
Living in such a restless environment, with one good influence drowned out by many bad ones, it is truly hard to settle the mind and pursue one's studies.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 一齐众楚
- Pinyin: yī qí zhòng chǔ
- Literal Translation: one Qi, many Chu
- Category: Learning
- Characters: 4