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During the late Three Kingdoms period, Liu Shan, the last emperor of the Shu Han kingdom, was known for his incompetence, and the eunuch Huang Hao gained significant power, colluding with Chen Zhi. Amidst this political turmoil, Shi Zhui, the Secretariat Director, remained fiercely loyal and adept at navigating difficult situations.
He firmly believed in the principle of 'small submission for great achievement,' understanding that one must sometimes endure minor grievances to accomplish greater things.
After the fall of Shu, when Liu Shan was taken to Luoyang, only Shi Zhui, abandoning his wife and children, chose to go alone to attend to his former lord, demonstrating his unwavering loyalty and embodying the spirit of enduring personal sacrifice for a greater purpose.

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Open the tool →小屈大申 (xiǎo qū dà shēn) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to tolerate minor setbacks or grievances for the sake of achieving greater success in the long run; to endure temporary hardship for future major accomplishments”.
小屈大申 is pronounced xiǎo qū dà shēn in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 小屈大申 means “Small submission, great achievement”. It is used to mean “to tolerate minor setbacks or grievances for the sake of achieving greater success in the long run; to endure temporary hardship for future major accomplishments”.
小屈大申 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
犹言先稍受委屈而后大有作为。