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Stories/Chinese folklore/Pulling Seedlings to Help Them Grow
HSK 3 Chinese reading practice

拔苗助长

bá miáo zhù zhǎng

Pulling Seedlings to Help Them Grow

An impatient farmer pulls every seedling higher, only to learn that growth cannot be forced.

RECOMMENDEDHSK 3
READ4 min
HANZI168
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CULTURE

Growth cannot be forced

拔苗助长 is the common modern form of 揠苗助长, a story recorded in Mencius. The idiom warns that forcing progress too quickly can ruin the very thing we want to help.

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