qí骑mǎ马dǐng顶bāo包
To confuse priorities; to misjudge what is important or where things should be placed, often leading to an absurd or illogical situation; to fail to understand the proper order or relationship between things.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
Once upon a time, there was a man traveling on horseback, with a package balanced on his head.
He swayed from side to side on the horse, finding it very strenuous. A passerby, seeing his struggle, asked him why he carried the package on his head instead of placing it on the horse's back.
He replied that he was afraid the horse would be too heavily burdened, and carrying it on his head would save the horse some effort. How absurd and ridiculous!