徒劳无益 tú láo wú yì fruitless effort

Explanation

白费力气，没有任何效果；形容做的事情毫无意义，没有价值。

To waste energy and effort without any result; describes something meaningless and valueless.

Origin Story

从前，在一个偏僻的小山村里，住着一位名叫阿牛的年轻小伙子。阿牛勤劳善良，但做事却缺乏思考，总是盲目地付出努力。一天，村里要修建一座水坝，阿牛听说后，便兴冲冲地赶去帮忙。他看到别人搬运石头，也跟着搬运；看到别人挖土，也跟着挖土。他干得很卖力，从早到晚都没有停歇。然而，由于他缺乏规划和技巧，搬运的石头总是乱堆乱放，挖出的土也总是散落在周围，根本没有起到任何作用。几天后，水坝仍然没有建成，阿牛累得筋疲力尽，却一无所获。村里的老人们看到阿牛的景象，都摇头叹息，告诉他做事要先动脑子，思考后再行动，否则只会徒劳无益。阿牛听后，羞愧难当，从此以后，他做事之前总是认真思考，并寻求别人的帮助，最终在人生的道路上取得了成功。

cóng qián, zài yīgè piānpì de xiǎo shāncūn lǐ, zhù zhe yī wèi míng jiào ā niú de nián qīng xiǎo huǒzi. ā niú qínláo shànliáng, dàn zuò shì què quēfá sīkǎo, zǒngshì mángmù de fùchū nǔlì. yītiān, cūn lǐ yào xiūjiàn yī zuò shuǐbà, ā niú tīngshuō hòu, biàn xīngchōngchōng de gǎn qù bāngmáng. tā kàn dào biérén bān yùn shítou, yě gēn zhe bān yùn; kàn dào biérén wā tǔ, yě gēn zhe wā tǔ. tā gàn de hěn màilì, cóng zǎo dào wǎn dōu méiyǒu tíng xiē. rán'ér, yóuyú tā quēfá guīhuà hé jìqiǎo, bān yùn de shítou zǒngshì luànduī luànfàng, wā chū de tǔ yě zǒngshì sànluò zài zhōuwéi, gēnběn méiyǒu qǐdào rènhé zuòyòng. jǐ tiān hòu, shuǐbà réngrán méiyǒu jiàn chéng, ā niú lèi de jīn pí jìn jì, què yīwú suǒ huò. cūn lǐ de lǎorénmen kàn dào ā niú de xǐnyàng, dōu yáotóu tànxī, gàosù tā zuòshì yào xiān dòng nǎozi, sīkǎo hòu zàixíngdòng, fǒuzé zhǐ huì tú láo wú yì. ā niú tīng hòu, xiūkuì nándāng, cóng cǐ yǐhòu, tā zuòshì zhīqián zǒngshì rènzhēn sīkǎo, bìng qíuqǔ biérén de bāngzhù, zuìzhōng zài rénshēng de dàolù shàng qǔdé le chénggōng

Once upon a time, in a remote mountain village, there lived a young man named An Niu. An Niu was diligent and kind, but he lacked thoughtfulness in his work and always blindly put in effort. One day, he heard that the village was going to build a dam, so he rushed to help. He saw others carrying stones, and he followed suit; he saw others digging earth, and he did the same. He worked very hard, without rest from morning till night. However, due to his lack of planning and skill, the stones he carried were always piled up haphazardly, and the earth he dug was scattered around, not serving any purpose at all. After a few days, the dam was still not built, and An Niu was exhausted and had nothing to show for it. The village elders, seeing An Niu’s plight, sighed and told him that before doing anything, he should think carefully and then act, otherwise it would only be a waste of effort. An Niu was ashamed, and from that day on, he always thought carefully before doing anything and sought help from others, eventually achieving success in life.

Usage

用于形容做事白费力气，没有结果。

yòng yú xíngróng zuòshì báifèi lìqi, méiyǒu jiéguǒ

Used to describe doing something that wastes energy and yields no results.

Examples

• 他花了大量时间准备考试，结果却名落孙山，真是徒劳无益。

  tā huā le dàliàng shíjiān zhǔnbèi kǎoshì, jiéguǒ què míng luò sūn shān, zhēnshi tú láo wú yì

  He spent a lot of time preparing for the exam, but ended up failing, which was totally fruitless.

• 与其做一些徒劳无益的事情，不如把时间花在更有意义的事情上。

  yǔ qí zuò yīxiē tú láo wú yì de shìqíng, bùrú bǎ shíjiān huā zài gèng yǒu yìyì de shìqíng shàng

  Instead of doing fruitless things, you should spend your time on something more meaningful.

Related Idioms

• 徒劳无功

• 枉费心机

Opposite Idioms

• 事半功倍

• 不劳而获