劳民动众 to trouble many people
Explanation
指为了某件事而动用很多人力物力,多含贬义。
It refers to using a lot of manpower and material resources for something, often with a negative connotation.
Origin Story
话说唐朝时期,一位名叫李白的诗人,因仰慕一位隐居山林的世外高人,便决定前往拜访。李白听说这位高人居住在深山老林之中,交通不便,于是决定雇佣一队人马,携带大量的礼物前往。这支队伍浩浩荡荡,沿途吸引了无数人的目光,许多村民闻讯而来,想一睹这位大诗人的风采。队伍行进缓慢,沿途还需安顿食宿,劳民动众,惹来了不少麻烦,当地官员也因此不得不调动人手维持秩序。最终,李白历尽艰辛,终于找到了这位隐居的高人,却发现这位高人并非如传说中那般神通广大,只是一位普通的山林隐士。李白虽然感到有些失望,但也从这次经历中吸取了教训:做事情不必劳民动众,要量力而行。
In the Tang Dynasty, there once lived a poet named Li Bai who admired a hermit living in the mountains and decided to visit him. Li Bai, having heard that the hermit lived deep in the mountains, where transportation was inconvenient, decided to hire a team of people and take numerous gifts. This team was very large and attracted countless people along the way. Many villagers came to see the great poet. The team's progress was slow; accommodation and meals had to be arranged along the way, causing a great disturbance and many troubles; local officials also had to deploy manpower to maintain order. Eventually, after great hardship, Li Bai finally found the hermit, only to discover that the hermit was not as powerful as legends made him out to be, merely an ordinary mountain hermit. While Li Bai felt somewhat disappointed, he learned a lesson from this experience: One shouldn't make a fuss about everything, one must act according to one's own abilities.
Usage
用于形容为了某件事情而费尽人力物力,多含贬义。
Used to describe expending great human and material resources on something, often with a negative connotation.
Examples
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为了这次会议,公司劳民动众,真是费尽心思。
wèile zhè cì huìyì, gōngsī láo mín dòng zhòng, zhēnshi fèijìn xīnsī
The company went to great lengths to organize this conference.
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他为了这件事劳民动众,结果却一无所获,真是得不偿失。
tā wèile zhè jiàn shì láo mín dòng zhòng, jiéguǒ què yīwú suǒhuò, zhēnshi débù chángshī
He went to great lengths for this matter, but ended up achieving nothing. It was a real waste of effort