卖剑买牛 — “Sell swords to buy oxen”
卖剑买牛 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to give up a destructive or violent way of life for a peaceful, productive one; to abandon fighting or a military career for farming; to turn over a new leaf and engage in honest labor”. Literally, “Sell swords to buy oxen”.
卖剑买牛 Pronunciation and Pinyin
卖剑买牛 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 卖剑买牛
Origin and Story of 卖剑买牛
During the Western Han Dynasty, farmers in the Bohai region were forced to become bandits due to famine. Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, appointed Gong Sui, who was over 70 years old, as the Grand Administrator of Bohai.
Upon taking office, Gong Sui vigorously announced that anyone who returned to agricultural production and stopped their banditry would be pardoned for their past actions. He opened granaries to lend grain and provide relief to the starving people.
Consequently, these common folk eagerly sold their swords to buy oxen, returned to farming, and lived in peace and contentment.
Idioms Related to 卖剑买牛
Synonyms of 卖剑买牛
Antonyms of 卖剑买牛
More idioms starting with 卖
- mài卖zhǔ主qiú求róng荣betray master for personal gain
- mài卖guāi乖nòng弄qiào俏show off cleverness and feign charm
- mài卖qiào俏yǐ倚mén门flaunt charm to solicit customers
- mài卖qiào俏yíng营jiān奸use charm to commit wickedness
- mài卖qiào俏xíng行jiān奸flaunt charms and commit adultery
- mài卖qiào俏yíng迎jiān奸flirt to entice illicit acts
- mài卖ér儿tiē贴fù妇sell children and wife due to poverty
- mài卖ér儿yù鬻nǚ女sell children due to extreme poverty
- mài卖gōng公yíng营sī私betray public trust for private gain
- mài卖dāo刀mǎi买niú牛abandon conflict for peaceful work
- mài卖dāo刀mǎi买dú犊give up fighting for farming
- mài卖jiàn剑mǎi买dú犊give up fighting for farming
Recommended tools
Chinese Text Image Generator
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →
Bingo Cards
Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →
Writing Worksheets
Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion
Open the tool →
Picture Worksheets
Chinese and English fill-in vocabulary worksheets
Open the tool →Questions about 卖剑买牛
What does 卖剑买牛 mean?
卖剑买牛 (mài jiàn mǎi niú) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to give up a destructive or violent way of life for a peaceful, productive one; to abandon fighting or a military career for farming; to turn over a new leaf and engage in honest labor”.
How do you pronounce 卖剑买牛?
卖剑买牛 is pronounced mài jiàn mǎi niú in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 卖剑买牛 literally mean?
Literally, 卖剑买牛 means “Sell swords to buy oxen”. It is used to mean “to give up a destructive or violent way of life for a peaceful, productive one; to abandon fighting or a military career for farming; to turn over a new leaf and engage in honest labor”.
Where does 卖剑买牛 come from?
卖剑买牛 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 卖剑买牛?
原指放下武器，从事耕种。后比喻改业务农或坏人改恶从善。