焚林而猎
fén lín ér liè
to burn down the forest to catch the game; to grab everything now and leave nothing for later
Character by character
焚fén
burn
burn
林lín
forest
forest
而ér
and
and
猎liè
hunt
hunt
Example
为了眼前的利润把山上的树全砍光，无异于焚林而猎。
Cutting down every tree on the mountain for a quick profit is no different from burning the forest to hunt.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
From Han Feizi (韩非子), whose original wording is 焚林而田 (田 meaning to hunt): burn the forest to hunt and you take many beasts today but none in the years to come. It is often paired with 竭泽而渔 from lesson 5-4, and both are used against short-sighted exploitation of nature or of people.
Learn this in Lesson 167 · HSK 7–9: 长江十年禁渔 (Ten years without fishing on the Yangtze)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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