予取予携 yǔ qǔ yú xié To take whatever one wants

Explanation

任意地取走，掠夺。形容强取豪夺，不顾别人的利益。

To take arbitrarily; to plunder. It describes the ruthless appropriation of goods without regard for the interests of others.

Origin Story

战国时期，群雄逐鹿，各国之间战争不断。魏国军队攻打赵国，赵国军队节节败退，眼看国都邯郸就要沦陷。赵王急得团团转，派人四处求援。这时，齐国田单率领军队赶来支援赵国。田单胸有成竹，他巧妙地利用地形，采取火攻战术，打败了魏军，解救了邯郸。魏军溃败后，四处逃窜，魏将辛垣衍落荒而逃，途中遇见了燕国使者，燕国使者见辛垣衍狼狈不堪，便上前询问情况，辛垣衍见燕国使者，便心生一计，对燕国使者说：魏国已经没有多少兵力了，此时正是燕国出兵攻打魏国的最佳时机，你们可以趁此机会攻打魏国，予取予携。燕国使者信以为真，立即回国禀报，燕王果然听信了辛垣衍的话，下令出兵攻打魏国，然而，魏国此时早已休养生息，燕国出兵攻打魏国，不但没有成功，反而损兵折将，得不偿失。

zhànguó shíqí, qúnxióng zhúlù, gèguó zhī jiān zhànzhēng bùduàn. wèiguó jūnduì gōngdǎ zhàoguó, zhàoguó jūnduì jiéjié bài tuì, yǎnkàn guódū hándān jiù yào lúnxiàn. zhàowáng jí de tuántúan zhuǎn, pài rén sìchù qiúyuán. zhè shí, qíguó tián dān shuài lǐng jūnduì gǎn lái zhīyuán zhàoguó. tián dān xiōng yǒu chēngzhú, tā qiǎomiào de lìyòng dìxíng, cǎiqǔ huǒ gōng zhànshù, dǎbài le wèijūn, jiějiù le hándān. wèijūn kuì bài hòu, sìchù táocuàn, wèijiāng xīnyuányǎn luò huāng ér táo, tú zhōng yù jiàn le yànguó shǐ zhě, yànguó shǐ zhě jiàn xīnyuányǎn lángbèi bùkān, biàn shàng qián xúnwèn qíngkuàng, xīnyuányǎn jiàn yànguó shǐ zhě, biàn xīn shēng yī jì, duì yànguó shǐ zhě shuō: wèiguó yǐjīng méiyǒu duōshao bīnglì le, cǐ shí zhèng shì yànguó chūbīng gōngdǎ wèiguó de zuì jiā shíjī, nǐmen kěyǐ chèn cǐ jīhuì gōngdǎ wèiguó, yǔ qǔ yú xié. yànguó shǐ zhě xìn wéi yǔ zhēn, lìjí huí guó bǐng bào, yànwáng guǒrán tīngxìn le xīnyuányǎn de huà, xià lìng chūbīng gōngdǎ wèiguó, rán'ér, wèiguó cǐ shí zǎo yǐ xiūyǎng shēngxī, yànguó chūbīng gōngdǎ wèiguó, bùdàn méiyǒu chénggōng, fǎn'ér sǔnbīng zhéjiàng, dé bù cháng shī.

During the Warring States period in ancient China, wars raged constantly between the various states. The Wei army attacked the Zhao army, which retreated steadily. Handan, the capital of Zhao, was about to fall. King Zhao was extremely worried and sent people to seek aid everywhere. At this time, Tian Dan of Qi led his army to support Zhao. Tian Dan had a plan. He cleverly utilized the terrain and adopted a fire attack tactic to defeat the Wei army and rescue Handan. After the defeat of the Wei army, they fled everywhere. Wei general Xin Yuanyan fled in disgrace. On the way, he met an envoy from Yan. Seeing Xin Yuanyan's plight, the Yan envoy stepped forward to inquire about the situation. Seeing the Yan envoy, Xin Yuanyan conceived a plan and told the envoy that Wei no longer had many troops and that this was the best time for Yan to attack Wei and plunder its wealth. The Yan envoy believed this, immediately returned to his country to report, and King Yan, indeed, believed Xin Yuanyan's words and ordered an attack on Wei. However, Wei had already recovered by then. The attack by Yan not only failed but also resulted in the loss of soldiers and weapons.

Usage

常用作谓语、状语；多用于贬义；形容强夺

cháng yòng zuò wèiyǔ, zhuàngyǔ; duō yòng yú biǎnyì; xiángróng qiángduó

Often used as a predicate or adverbial; mostly derogatory; describes the forceful taking away.

Examples

• 他们肆意予取予携，最终损害了集体的利益。

  tāmen sìyì yǔ qǔ yú xié, zuìzhōng sǔnhài le jítǐ de lìyì.

  They arbitrarily took whatever they wanted, ultimately harming the interests of the collective.

• 面对强权的压迫，人民只能任其予取予携。

  miàn duì qiángquán de yāpò, rénmín zhǐ néng rèn qí yǔ qǔ yú xié

  Faced with the oppression of power, the people could only let them take whatever they wanted.

Related Idioms

• 予取予夺

• 强取豪夺

Opposite Idioms

• 施舍

• 给予