拔苗助长

bá miáo zhù zhǎng

to ruin something by forcing it along

Character by character

拔bá
pull up

苗miáo
seedlings

助zhù
help

长zhǎng
grow

让三岁的孩子学五种乐器，这是拔苗助长。

Making a three-year-old learn five instruments is pulling up the seedlings to help them grow.

Tone: negative (criticism).

The original wording is 揠苗助长 (yà).

Learn this in Lesson 207 · HSK 9+: 寓言与名句 (Fables and famous lines)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.