Chinese idiom · 成语
涸辙之鲋
Meaning
A fish in a dry rut; someone in desperate need.
Character by character
Origin and story
Philosophical fableIn the Zhuangzi's Waiwu chapter, the impoverished Zhuang Zhou asks an official for grain. The official promises a substantial loan after his revenues arrive. Zhuang Zhou answers with a fable: a small fish stranded in a wheel rut calls for just enough water to stay alive. He offers instead to travel south and arrange for a great river to be diverted to it.
The fish angrily replies that by then he might as well look for it in a dried-fish shop. The deliberately absurd offer exposes the official's equally unhelpful delay. The later idiom names someone in immediate distress, for whom modest assistance now matters more than grand promises.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
工厂突然停工，这些急需工资付房租的工人，处境如同涸辙之鲋。
The factory suddenly stopped work, leaving workers who urgently needed their wages for rent like fish stranded in a dry rut.
Literary; emphasizes immediate need for practical help.