"Yi wang da jin" literally means "catching all the fish and shrimp with a single net," and it is used metaphorically to describe capturing or completely eliminating all targets in one sweep, leaving nothing behind. It originates from an allusion in the History of Song, originally referring to wiping out an opponent in one decisive move in military affairs or hunting, and later came to be widely used in various contexts. This idiom carries a strong sense of "thoroughness" and "one-time completion," emphasizing decisive action and a clean, neat result. Usage scenarios include: the police arresting a criminal gang, defeating all opponents in a competition, and clearing harmful information. Its emotional tone is relatively neutral, but when describing cracking down on evil forces, it often carries a commendatory or satisfying sense; if used against innocent people, it may carry a derogatory connotation. Culturally, it reflects the ancient Chinese mindset of "eradicating evil completely" and the wisdom of pursuing efficient and thorough solutions to problems. In modern Chinese, it is often used together with words such as "in one move" and "thoroughly," has a relatively strong tone, and is mostly used in both spoken and written language.
📝 Example
1. After meticulous planning, the police finally rounded up the long-operating theft gang, leaving none of them at large. (Meaning: to capture all members of a criminal gang, with no one escaping.)
2. In this knowledge competition, our school's team performed outstandingly and swept all the top three awards. (Meaning: to take all the awards, leaving no opportunity for other teams.)