嫌贫爱富 xián pín ài fù despise the poor and love the rich

Explanation

形容对人态度以其贫富为标准，嫌弃贫穷，喜爱富有。

Describes an attitude towards people based on their wealth or poverty, despising the poor and preferring the rich.

Origin Story

从前，在一个小山村里，住着两位姑娘，一位家境贫寒，勤劳善良，另一位家财万贯，却骄横跋扈。村里来了位秀才，他嫌贫爱富，只追求富家女，对贫寒姑娘不屑一顾。穷姑娘并未气馁，她更加努力学习，最终考取功名，成为朝廷命官。富家女因其家族败落而被抛弃，后悔莫及。这个故事告诉我们，人应该重德行，而非财富。

cóng qián, zài yīgè xiǎo shān cūn lǐ, zhù zhe liǎng wèi gūniang, yī wèi jiā jìng pín hán, qín láo shàn liáng, lìng yī wèi jiā cái wàn guàn, què jiāo hèng bá hù. cūn lǐ lái le wèi xiù cái, tā xián pín ài fù, zhǐ zhuī qiú fù jiā nǚ, duì pín hán gūniang bù xiè yī gù. qióng gūniang bìng wèi qì něi, tā gèng jiā nǔ lì xuéxí, zuì zhōng kǎo qǔ gōng míng, chéng wéi cháoting mìng guān. fù jiā nǚ yīn qí jiāzú bài luò ér bèi pāoqì, hòu huǐ mò jí. zhège gùshì gàosù wǒmen, rén yīnggāi zhòng dé xíng, ér fēi cái fù.

Once upon a time, in a small mountain village, there lived two girls. One was poor but hardworking and kind, the other was wealthy but arrogant and overbearing. A scholar came to the village, and because he despised the poor and loved the rich, he pursued only the wealthy girl and ignored the poor girl. The poor girl did not give up, she studied harder and eventually passed the examination and became a court official. The rich girl was abandoned when her family fell into ruin and regretted it very much. This story teaches us that we should value virtue, not wealth.

Usage

用于形容对人的好恶以其贫富为标准。

yòng yú xíngróng duì rén de hǎo'è yǐ qí pín fù wéi biāozhǔn

Used to describe that one's likes and dislikes of people depend on their wealth or poverty.

Examples

• 他嫌贫爱富，只和有钱人交往。

  tā xián pín ài fù, zhǐ hé yǒu qián rén jiāowǎng

  He despises the poor and loves the rich; he only associates with the wealthy.

• 这种嫌贫爱富的行为令人不齿。

  zhè zhǒng xián pín ài fù de xíngwéi lìng rén bùchǐ

  Such behavior of despising the poor and loving the rich is contemptible.

Related Idioms

• 势利眼

• 趋炎附势

Opposite Idioms

• 扶危济困

• 济贫扶弱