一毛不拔

Chinese

one; single; a
one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)
 
 hair; fur; one tenth of a yuan or dollar not; no
pull up; pull out; select
pull up; pull out; select; promote
 
trad. (一毛不拔) 一 毛 不 拔
simp. #(一毛不拔) 一 毛 不 拔
Literally: “won't even pull out a single hair (to give someone), playing on the double meaning of 毛 (small unit of currency vs. hair)”.

Etymology

From Mencius's comment about Yangism:

孟子曰：「楊子取為我，拔一毛而利天下，不為也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
孟子曰：「杨子取为我，拔一毛而利天下，不为也。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCE
Mèngzǐ yuē: “Yángzǐ qǔ wèiwǒ, bá yī máo ér lì tiānxià, bù wèi yě.” [Pinyin]
Mencius said, "The principle of the philosopher Yang was "Each one for himself." Though he might have benefited the whole kingdom by plucking out a single hair, he would not have done it."

Pronunciation

Idiom

一毛不拔

  1. very stingy

Synonyms

Derived terms

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