Situations
緣木求魚
연목구어
yuán mù qiú yú
Yeon-mok-gu-eo
緣
인연 연
木
나무 목
求
구할 구
魚
물고기 어
Character by character
Meaning
Climbing a tree to look for fish — the method itself is wrong.
Origin
From the Mencius, where Mencius tells King Xuan that winning the realm by force is like climbing a tree after fish.
How it is used
Used to say the answer is not more effort but a different approach.
Hanja緣木求魚
Simplified缘木求鱼
Korean reading연목구어
Pinyinyuán mù qiú yú
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Yeon-mok-gu-eo mean?
緣木求魚 · Climbing a tree to look for fish — the method itself is wrong.
Q. Where does Yeon-mok-gu-eo come from?
From the Mencius, where Mencius tells King Xuan that winning the realm by force is like climbing a tree after fish.
Q. How is Yeon-mok-gu-eo used?
Used to say the answer is not more effort but a different approach.
Idioms in the same group
四面楚歌 Sa-myeon-cho-gaChu songs on all four sides — surrounded with nowhere to turn.進退兩難 Jin-toe-yang-nanHard to advance and hard to retreat.累卵之危 Nu-ran-ji-wiAs precarious as a stack of eggs.風前燈火 Pung-jeon-deung-hwaA lamp flame before the wind — an extremely precarious state.五里霧中 O-ri-mu-jungInside a fog five li deep — completely unable to make sense of things.囊中之錐 Nang-jung-ji-chuAn awl in a sack — real ability pushes through however it is hidden.
The idioms used in Korea mix phrases from the Chinese classics with ones coined in Korea. Where an expression is not used in China, the entry says so.