让枣推梨 — “To describe the mutual affection and deference between siblings”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 让枣推梨?

小儿推让食物的典故。比喻兄弟友爱。

让枣推梨 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to describe the mutual affection and deference between siblings”. Often referring to children's politeness and consideration when sharing food. Literally, “yield dates and push away pears”.

Frequency

让枣推梨 Pronunciation and Pinyin

让枣推梨 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
让	ràng	5	allow or give way
枣	zǎo	8	jujube fruit or tree
推	tuī	11	push, promote, infer, postpone
梨	lí	11	pear fruit or tree

Example Sentence with 让枣推梨

小明和弟弟玩耍时，总是懂得让枣推梨，家里人都夸他懂事。

When playing with his younger brother, Xiao Ming always knew how to yield dates and push away pears, and everyone in the family praised him for being considerate.

Origin and Story of 让枣推梨

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, when Wang Tai was a young boy, his grandmother distributed dates and chestnuts to the children. He did not rush to grab them but waited for others to take their share before eating the rest.

In the Han Dynasty, when Kong Rong was four years old, he would always pick the smallest pears for himself when sharing them with his brothers and family, leaving the larger ones for the elders. His family highly praised his thoughtfulness and good manners.