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Definition 2025

See also: 割鸡焉用牛刀

		to kill a chicken	where; how	to use	an ox cleaver; a cleaver for butchering oxen
trad. (割雞焉用牛刀)		割雞	焉	用	牛刀
simp. (割鸡焉用牛刀)		割鸡	焉	用	牛刀

割雞焉用牛刀

“割雞焉用牛刀”, in Guoyu Cidian On-line Mandarin Dictionary (國語辭典) (in Mandarin), accessed 2008-02-28

c. 479 BCE – 221 BCE, Analects of Confucius/Part 17 (論語/陽貨第十七)
子之武城，聞弦歌之聲，夫子莞爾而笑，曰：「割雞焉用牛刀。」子游對曰：「昔者，偃也聞諸夫子曰：『君子學道則愛人，小人學道則易使也。』」子曰：「二三子！偃之言是也，前言戲之耳！」
The master went to Wucheng.^[1] When he heard the sound of ritual court music, the master smiled and said, "Why use an ox cleaver to kill a chicken?"^[2]Ziyou replied, "In that past, I have heard you say, 'If a ruler learns the way, then he will love the people. If a person of low station learns the way, then it will be easier for him to serve.'"^[3]The master said, "Gentlemen! What Yan said is correct. As for my previous statement, I was only teasing him!" (Wiktionary translation)

↑ Confucius was visiting his disciple Yan Yan, who was commandant of Wucheng at the time.
↑ Confucius was joking with his disciple, suggesting that ritual court music might be a bit over the top, when considering that Wucheng was such a lowly assignment.
↑ Yan Yan is suggesting that even though Wucheng is a small outpost, its civil servants should still be educated in proper court etiquette.