If the skin is gone, where will the hair grow? The metaphor is that a person or thing cannot exist if it loses the foundation on which it depends.
Pronunciation:
皮之不存，毛将焉附
pí zhī bù cún，máo jiāng yān fù
Origin:
春秋·左丘明《左传·僖公十四年》：冬，秦饥，使乞乘于晋，晋人弗与。庆郑曰：“背施无亲，幸灾不仁，贪爱不祥，怒邻不义。四德皆失，何以守国？”虢射曰“：“皮之不存，毛将安傅？”庆郑曰：“弃信背邻，患孰恤之？无信患作，失援必毙，是则然矣。”虢射曰：“无损于怨而厚于寇，不如勿与。”
Story:
During the Warring States period, the Dong Yang region of Wei sold 10 times more money, grain and cloth to the state than in previous years, for which the court full of ministers joined together to congratulate the Marquis of Wei. The Marquis of Wei was not optimistic about this matter. He was thinking: How could the land in Dongyang, which had not increased and had the same population, be 10 times more than in previous years? Even if it is a good harvest, but there is also a proportion to the state. He analyzed that this must be the result of increased levies from officials at all levels to the people below. This incident reminded him of an incident he encountered a year ago.
A year ago, the Marquis of Wei was out on a tour. One day, he saw a man on the road wearing a sheepskin tuxedo on his back, with the wool of the tuxedo facing inward and the skin facing outward, and the man was carrying a basket of grass for the animals on his back. Wenhou of Wei felt very strange, so he went up to the man and asked, “Why are you wearing the sheepskin coat backwards, leaving the leather plate exposed to carry things?” The man replied, “I love this leather coat, and I am afraid that I will spoil it by exposing the fur outside, especially when carrying things, and I am afraid that the fur will be worn off.” Wei Wenhou listened and said to the man seriously, “You know what? In fact, the skin is more important, if the skin is worn out, the hair will have no place to cling to, so you want to give up the skin to protect the hair is not a wrong idea?” The man still stubbornly carried the grass on his back and walked away.
Nowadays, the officials are collecting money, grain, cloth and silk from the people without regard to their lives, isn’t this the same as what the man who wore a leather coat on his back did?
So the Marquis of Wei summoned the court ministers and told them the story of the man who wore a leather coat and said, “If the skin does not exist, how can the hair be attached? If the people do not have peace, it will be difficult to consolidate the position of the king. I hope you will remember this truth and not be blinded by a little profit to see the substance of the matter.” The ministers were deeply inspired.
