Chinese idiom · 成语
无济于事
Meaning
No help to the matter; futile effort.
Character by character
Origin and story
Literary usageLiu Zhi's Song memorial Lun Fen Xi Zhu Yi challenges the dismissal of officials who criticized government policy. Were their words really of no help at all, he asks? The passage uses 无补于事, a related expression with 补, 'benefit or assistance,' rather than the idiom's 濟. The dictionary treats this connection as tentative.
The exact wording appears in chapter 3 of the later novel Yu Jiao Li, where a speaker fears that a proposed visit will achieve nothing and only embarrass the person recommending him. The expression judges whether an action helps a situation, without necessarily judging the actor's effort or intentions.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
车票已经售完，现在责怪谁都无济于事，还是想想别的办法吧。
The tickets are sold out; blaming anyone won't help now, so let's find another way.
An action provides no help toward resolving the problem.