📖 Meaning
Here 予 means 'me' or 'I'. The phrase originally meant taking from me and seeking from me, describing someone who freely demands things from another. It now refers to making unrestrained, arbitrary demands without gratitude or restraint.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Zuo Zhuan, the classic commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals, in the entry for the seventh year of Duke Xi (653 BC) during the Spring and Autumn period. It records the words of Shen Hou, a minister who had served both the state of Chu and the state of Zheng. Addressing Duke Wen of Zheng, whose rise had once depended on Shen Hou's support, he declared that only he truly understood the duke. He reminded the duke that although the duke was grasping and never satisfied, Shen Hou had let him take and seek freely and had never reproached him for his faults. The phrase later shifted to describe anyone who demands things selfishly and without limit.
💡 Example Usage
他对朋友予取予求，最终大家都疏远了他。
He made endless demands on his friends, until in the end they all drifted away from him.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 予取予求
- Pinyin: yú qǔ yú qiú
- Literal Translation: I, take, I, seek
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4