"Pulling Up Seedlings to Help Them Grow" comes from Mencius, Gongsun Chou I. It tells of a farmer in the State of Song who, impatient with the slow growth of his crops, pulled each seedling upward, only to have all the seedlings wither and die. This idiom is used to describe going against the objective laws of development and being so eager for success that one ends up making things worse. It emphasizes that in doing things, one must respect natural laws and objective conditions, and must not act rashly based solely on subjective wishes. In terms of usage, it is often used to criticize behavior that ignores reality and is impatient and reckless, such as putting excessive pressure on children in education or blindly pursuing speed at the expense of quality in work. In terms of emotional coloring, it has a clearly derogatory meaning, carrying a sense of sarcasm and warning. In terms of cultural background, it reflects the Confucian doctrine of the mean expressed in "haste makes waste," reminding people to proceed step by step and keep their feet on the ground.
📝 Example
1. In order to make their children successful early, parents signed them up for over a dozen tutoring classes. This practice of pulling up seedlings to help them grow only made the children tired of learning. (A metaphor for violating the laws of growth and rushing for success, resulting in the opposite effect.)
2. Economic development should follow market laws. If the government blindly pulls up seedlings to help them grow and forcibly promotes unrealistic projects, it will ultimately lead to a waste of resources. (A metaphor for ignoring objective conditions and forcibly accelerating, leading to failure.)