📖 Meaning
A small pillar supporting a large structure will inevitably collapse. It is a metaphor for someone of limited ability being entrusted with a heavy responsibility, which is bound to lead to disaster. The idiom warns against assigning critical tasks to those unqualified to handle them.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Book of Han (汉书), in the biography of Li Xun (李寻). Li Xun advised Emperor Cheng of the Western Han Dynasty, saying that a great house with small pillars is cause for alarm, urging the emperor to personally seek out worthy and capable men. The Tang scholar Yan Shigu annotated this, explaining that the affairs of the state are weighty, and official posts must be filled by the truly competent. The metaphor equates a nation to a building and officials to its pillars—undersized pillars under a massive roof doom the structure.
💡 Example Usage
公司委以重任于经验不足之人，实乃柱小倾大，恐难长久。
Entrusting a crucial responsibility to someone inexperienced is like using a small pillar for a great building—it is bound to end badly.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 柱小倾大
- Pinyin: zhù xiǎo qīng dà
- Literal Translation: pillar, small, collapse, large
- Category: Leadership
- Characters: 4