利令智昏 — “Profit causes wisdom to be muddled”
利令智昏 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be blinded by greed for personal gain, leading to a loss of sound judgment and rational thought; to lose one's reason because of desire for profit”. Literally, “Profit causes wisdom to be muddled”.
利令智昏 Pronunciation and Pinyin
利令智昏 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 利令智昏
Origin and Story of 利令智昏
During the Warring States period, various vassal states often waged wars to seize territory. The State of Qin sent its general Bai Qi to attack the State of Han, capturing a piece of land called Yanwang.
Nearby, in another territory called Shangdang, local officials, seeing how easily Yanwang was taken by the Qin army, feared that Shangdang would also be undefendable. They wrote to the State of Zhao, expressing their willingness to surrender and hoping for Zhao's protection.
The Zhao monarch and his officials were divided on whether to accept Shangdang's surrender, leading to a fierce debate. Prince Pingyuan (Zhao Sheng) argued, "Shangdang is such a large territory; we can acquire it without deploying a single soldier. Why shouldn't we?" Prince Pingyang opposed this, saying, "It is precisely because we gain such a benefit effortlessly and accept it so easily that it may invite great disaster."
King Zhao, unwilling to let go of this seemingly easy gain, supported Prince Pingyuan's proposal and sent him to receive Shangdang, annexing it into Zhao's territory. Upon learning this, Qin believed Zhao was deliberately opposing them and ordered Bai Qi to lead a large army to attack Zhao.
As a result, Zhao's army of 400,000 soldiers was completely annihilated, and its capital Handan was besieged. Later, Prince Pingyuan took Mao Sui to the State of Chu, persuading the King of Chu to form an alliance with Zhao against Qin. Chu eventually sent troops, which lifted the siege of Handan.
The King of Zhao and Prince Pingyuan, blinded by the immediate benefit of acquiring Shangdang's land, nearly led the State of Zhao to ruin. Later generations described their actions as "利令智昏" (lì lìng zhì hūn), meaning to be blinded by greed.
Idioms Related to 利令智昏
Antonyms of 利令智昏
More idioms starting with 利
- lì利bù不kuī亏yì义uphold justice over profit
- lì利lìng令zhì志hūn惛blinded by greed
- lì利lìng令zhì智hūn惛Greed blinds one's reason
- lì利bàng傍yǐ倚dāo刀Greed leads to danger
- lì利chū出yī一kǒng孔all benefits from one source
- lì利lì利suo索suǒ索neat, quick, and efficient
- lì利kǒu口jié捷jǐ给eloquent and quick-witted
- lì利huì喙shàn赡cí辞articulate and eloquent
- lì利hài害dé得shī失pros and cons
- lì利hài害yōu攸guān关involves vital interests
- lì利hài害xiāng相guān关closely intertwined interests
- lì利jǐ己sǔn损rén人benefit self by harming others
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Open the tool →Questions about 利令智昏
What does 利令智昏 mean?
利令智昏 (lì lìng zhì hūn) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be blinded by greed for personal gain, leading to a loss of sound judgment and rational thought; to lose one's reason because of desire for profit”.
How do you pronounce 利令智昏?
利令智昏 is pronounced lì lìng zhì hūn in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 利令智昏 literally mean?
Literally, 利令智昏 means “Profit causes wisdom to be muddled”. It is used to mean “to be blinded by greed for personal gain, leading to a loss of sound judgment and rational thought; to lose one's reason because of desire for profit”.
Where does 利令智昏 come from?
利令智昏 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 利令智昏?
令：使；智：理智；昏：昏乱，神智不清。因贪图私利而失去理智，把什么都忘了。