顺藤摸瓜 shùn téng mō guā follow the vine to find the gourd

Explanation

比喻按照某个线索查究事情。

A metaphor for investigating a matter according to a certain clue.

Origin Story

话说唐朝时期，有一个叫李白的诗人，他一日游山玩水时，发现一只瓜藤异常茂盛，瓜藤上结满了又大又圆的瓜。李白心想，这瓜藤如此粗壮，瓜一定也很好吃。于是他顺着瓜藤，仔细寻找，终于找到了一棵结满大瓜的瓜树。李白高兴地摘下几个大瓜，品尝起来，果然味道鲜美无比。从此，顺藤摸瓜的故事便流传开来，人们用它来比喻根据线索寻找真相。

huashuo tangchao shiqi, you yige jiao li bai de shiren, ta yiri you shan wan shui shi, faxian yizhi guateng yichang maosheng, guateng shang jiemanle you da you yuan de gua. li bai xinxiang, zhe guateng ruci cuzhuang, gua yiding ye hen haochi. yushi ta shunzhao guateng, zixizixunzhaozhong, zhongyu zhaodaole yike jieman dagua de guashu. li bai gao xing di zha xia jige dagua, pinchang qilai, guoran wei dao xianmei wu bi. cong ci, shunteng mogua de gushi bian liuchuan kailai, renmen yong ta lai biyu genju xiansuo xunzhao zhenxiang.

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a poet named Li Bai. One day, while traveling in the mountains, he discovered an unusually lush gourd vine laden with large, round gourds. Li Bai thought to himself, such a strong vine must bear delicious gourds. So he followed the vine, carefully searching, and finally found a gourd plant with many large gourds. Li Bai happily picked a few large gourds and tasted them; they were indeed delicious. From then on, the story of "following the vine to find the gourd" has been passed down, and people use it to illustrate how to find the truth based on clues.

Usage

用作谓语、宾语、定语；用于处事。

yongzuo weiyǔ, bǐnyǔ, dìngyǔ; yòng yú chǔshì

Used as predicate, object, and attributive; used in dealing with matters.

Examples

• 警方顺藤摸瓜，很快破获了这起案件。

  jingcha shuntengmogua, hen kuai pohuole zhe qi anjian.

  The police followed the clues and quickly solved the case.

• 顺着这个线索，我们顺藤摸瓜，找到了幕后主使。

  shunzhe zhe ge xiansuo,women shuntengmogua,zhaodaole muhou zhushi

  Following this clue, we found the mastermind behind the scenes.

Related Idioms

• 顺藤摘瓜

Opposite Idioms

• 缘木求鱼