📖 Meaning
This idiom means that those who help others do good will receive good in return, just as someone who helps prepare a meal gets to taste the food. It encourages assisting others in virtuous endeavors. The metaphor likens good deeds to a shared feast where the helper is rewarded.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the 'Discourses of the States' (国语·周语下), a text from the Spring and Autumn period compiling political discourses of various states. The original line states: 'He who assists in preparing food gets to taste it; he who assists in a fight gets hurt.' Prince Jin of Zhou used this contrast to warn against helping in quarrels while encouraging participation in virtuous acts. The Northern Qi scholar Yan Zhitu later cited it in his 'Family Instructions of the Yan Clan' (颜氏家训·省事) to advise joining good causes and distancing oneself from wrongdoing.
💡 Example Usage
他深信佐饔得尝的道理，平日里总是热心帮助邻里。
He firmly believed in the principle that helping others brings its own reward, so he was always eager to assist his neighbors.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 佐饔得尝
- Pinyin: zuǒ yōng dé cháng
- Literal Translation: assist, meal preparation, get, taste
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4