姑息养奸 (gū xī yǎng jiān) — to tolerate evil is to abet it; appeasement breeds trouble

Definition

A chengyu warning that indulging wrongdoing only makes it grow. Concretely: tolerating a small evil today breeds a bigger evil tomorrow.

idiom
to tolerate evil is to abet itappeasement breeds trouble

Examples

  • 姑息养奸，。
    Duì wéi fǎ xíng wéi jué bù néng gū xī yǎng jiān, fǒu zé huì pò huài shè huì zhì xù.
    We must never tolerate illegal acts, or it will undermine social order.
  • ，姑息养奸。
    Jīng lǐ fā xiàn yuán gōng de xiǎo cuò wù què bù guǎn, zhè jiù shì gū xī yǎng jiān.
    The manager noticed the employees' small mistakes but did nothing — that's tolerating evil.
  • ，姑息养奸，。
    Fù mǔ guò fèn nì ài hái zi, wǎng wǎng shì gū xī yǎng jiān, zhù zhǎng le huài xí guàn.
    Overindulgent parents often end up tolerating evil and encouraging bad habits.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

姑息tolerate
姑gūtemporarily息xīpacify
偏正Modifier + head
养奸nurture evil
养yǎngnurture奸jiānevil
动宾Verb + object

姑息 is to tolerate by making peace, and 养奸 is to nurture evil; together they warn that tolerating wrong feeds it.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ姑gū
Same sound today

The left part 女 marks it as a woman, and the right part 古 provides the sound. It is used for female relatives like an aunt or mother-in-law.

Open 姑 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 息, 自 is nose and 心 is heart, showing breath or life passing through one's nose.

Open 息 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 養; 养 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 養 uses 羊 as a sound part and 食 as a meaning part.

Open 养 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
干
干gān奸jiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

奸 is written with 女 (woman) on the left and 干 on the right; the evidence says 干 gives the sound and 女 marks the meaning.

Open 奸 →

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