渔人得利 — “To profit from others' contention or dispute”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 渔人得利?

趁着双方争执不下而从中得到好处。

渔人得利 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to profit from others' contention or dispute”. To be the third party who benefits from two parties' struggle. Literally, “fisherman gains profit”.

Frequency

渔人得利 Pronunciation and Pinyin

渔人得利 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
渔	yú	11	to fish; exploit
人	rén	2	human being, person
得	dé	11	obtain, must, or suitable
利	lì	7	benefit, smooth, sharp, profit

Example Sentence with 渔人得利

他们两家公司为了争夺市场份额打得不可开交，结果让第三方小企业渔人得利。

While those two companies were fiercely competing for market share, a small third-party enterprise ended up profiting from their struggle.

Origin and Story of 渔人得利

During the Warring States period, the State of Zhao was preparing to attack the State of Yan. King Yan sent Su Dai to Zhao to persuade King Zhao against war.

Su Dai told a story: A clam on the riverbank clamped down on a snipe's beak. Both the clam and the snipe refused to give in, locked in a struggle. Eventually, a fisherman easily caught both of them.

Su Dai concluded that if Yan and Zhao went to war, the State of Qin would be like that fisherman, easily swallowing both Yan and Zhao. King Zhao was thus persuaded to abandon his plan of war.