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顾全大局 (gù quán dà jú) — to take the overall situation into consideration; to prioritize the collective interest over personal or local ones

Definition

A formal chengyu meaning to put the big picture first and set aside personal or local interests. Typical of official, corporate, or leadership contexts — not everyday casual speech.

phrase
to take the overall situation into considerationto prioritize the collective interest over personal or local ones

Examples

  • ，顾全大局。
    Wèi le gōng sī de fā zhǎn, měi gè yuán gōng dōu yào xué huì gù quán dà jú.
    For the company's development, every employee must learn to consider the big picture.
  • ，顾全大局，。
    Zài tán pàn zhōng, wǒ men bì xū gù quán dà jú, bù néng zhǐ gù yǎn qián lì yì.
    In negotiations, we must keep the big picture in mind and not focus only on immediate gains.
  • ，顾全大局，。
    Zuò wéi lǐng dǎo rén, tā shǐ zhōng gù quán dà jú, cóng bú jì jiào gè rén dé shī.
    As a leader, he always considers the overall situation and never cares about personal gains or losses.

Origin

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 顧; 顾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
雇
雇gù顧gù
Same sound today

The traditional form 顧 combines 雇 as a sound part and 頁 as a meaning part; 顾 is the simplified form of 顧.

Open 顾 →

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

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

Open 全 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
句
句jù局jú
Same sound today

The shape of 局 pairs 尸, a meaning part, with 句, a sound part.

Open 局 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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