小受大走 — “Small bear, big flee”
小受大走 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to endure minor punishment from one's parents but strategically flee from severe beating, as a filial duty to protect parents from committing a serious offense or inflicting grievous harm”. Literally, “Small bear, big flee”.
小受大走 Pronunciation and Pinyin
小受大走 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 小受大走
Origin and Story of 小受大走
During the Spring and Autumn period, Zeng Can was severely beaten by his father for mistakenly damaging some melon seedlings. He fell unconscious from the beating but pretended to be very happy when he woke up.
Upon hearing this, Confucius was greatly displeased, even going so far as to refuse to acknowledge Zeng Can as his disciple.
Confucius explained that the ancient sage Shun, when disciplined by his father, always practiced '小受大走' (endured minor punishment but fled from severe beatings), thereby preserving his filial piety without allowing his father to commit the grave wrong of inflicting excessive harm.
Zeng Can, by enduring such a severe beating, put his father in a precarious position of potential injustice.
Idioms Related to 小受大走
More idioms starting with 小
- xiǎo小bù不rěn忍zé则luàn乱dà大móu谋Impatience in small things spoils great plans
- xiǎo小chǒu丑tiào跳liáng梁Insignificant villains stirring up mischief
- xiǎo小zhōng中jiàn见dà大see the big in the small
- xiǎo小rén人dé得zhì志petty person achieves success
- xiǎo小xìn信wèi未fú孚Small trust not yet convinced
- xiǎo小tōu偷xiǎo小mō摸to engage in petty theft
- xiǎo小ér儿pò破zéi贼youngster achieves great accomplishments
- xiǎo小guān冠zi子xià夏a person with poor eyesight
- xiǎo小qì器yì易yíng盈narrow-minded, easily conceited
- xiǎo小guó国guǎ寡mín民small country with few people
- xiǎo小dà大yóu由zhī之applicable to both large and small matters
- xiǎo小tóu头xiǎo小nǎo脑narrow-minded and short-sighted
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Open the tool →Questions about 小受大走
What does 小受大走 mean?
小受大走 (xiǎo shòu dà zǒu) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to endure minor punishment from one's parents but strategically flee from severe beating, as a filial duty to protect parents from committing a serious offense or inflicting grievous harm”.
How do you pronounce 小受大走?
小受大走 is pronounced xiǎo shòu dà zǒu in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 小受大走 literally mean?
Literally, 小受大走 means “Small bear, big flee”. It is used to mean “to endure minor punishment from one's parents but strategically flee from severe beating, as a filial duty to protect parents from committing a serious offense or inflicting grievous harm”.
Where does 小受大走 come from?
小受大走 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 小受大走?
轻打就忍受，重打就逃跑。儒家认为这是孝子受父母责罚时应抱的态度。