Chinese idiom · 成语
集腋成裘
Meaning
Gather armpit fur for a coat; small efforts build great results.
Character by character
Origin and story
Classical analogyThe Qinshi chapter of the Mozi argues for valuing capable people. It compares a great river, fed by many sources, with an expensive fur robe that cannot be made from the white fur of a single fox. A related passage in the Shenzi uses the same robe image to explain why a ruler needs contributions from many people.
The idiom develops this into gathering small pieces of fur from beneath foxes' forelegs to make a complete robe. Its lesson is accumulation and combination: something substantial can emerge from modest parts. It can describe many people's contributions or one person's steady collecting, without requiring a literal fur-making story.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
每人捐一本书，集腋成裘，社区很快就有了一个小图书馆。
With everyone donating one book, the small contributions added up, and the community soon had a little library.
Positive or neutral; emphasizes combining small contributions into something substantial.