Idiom The shoe is small and the foot is large, so a piece of the foot is cut off to fit the size of the shoe. It is a metaphor for making an unreasonable accommodation or a rigid adaptation of conditions.
Pronunciation:
削足适履
xuē zú shì lǚ
Origin:
《淮南子·说林训》：“夫所以养而害所养，譬犹削足而适履，杀头而便冠。”
Story:
During the Spring and Autumn Period in China, there was a time when King Ling of Chu himself led a chariot of 1,000 vehicles and a majestic army of 100,000 men to conquer the state of Cai. The expedition went very well. Seeing the success of the expedition, King Ling of Chu sent his younger brother, Qi Qi, to stay in Cai and take care of all the military and political affairs there, and then ordered his 100,000-strong army to continue the expedition in order to destroy the state of Xu.
This brother of King Ling of Chu was not only of poor quality, but also very ambitious. He was not willing to be the head of the small state of Cai, and was often sullen about it. He had a strategist named Chao Wu under him who was very scheming. One day he said, “Now that King Ling is away on an expedition, the country must be empty, so why don’t you bring your troops back to the country, kill King Ling’s son and install a new ruler, and then you will be the ruler of the country.
He listened to Chao Wu and returned to Chu, killing King Ling’s son and making his brother’s other son Zi Wu the king. When the king heard that his son had been killed by his younger brother, he was chilled and thought that there was no point in living in the world. When he found out that King Ling had died, he forced Zi Wu to kill himself and became the notorious King Ping of Chu.
Another story is that Duke Xian of Jin loved Lixi and took her at her word. When LIXI offered to make Xi Qi, her infant son, the crown prince, he agreed and killed the original crown prince, his own son Shen Sheng. Having done both, LIXI was still not sure of herself, for the Duke of Jin still had two sons, Chong Er and Yi Wu. By now, both sons had reached adulthood and LIXI felt that this was a great threat to Xi Qi’s future succession to the throne, so she suggested that the brothers be killed. However, their plot was overheard by an upright minister who immediately informed Chong Er and Yi Wu, who, upon hearing of the plot, immediately took refuge abroad.
Commenting on these two incidents, Liu An, the author of Huainanzi – Shuo Lin Xun, said, “To raise a man and harm the one he raises is like cutting his feet to fit his shoes, or killing his head to fit his crown.” It means that listening to the instigation of bad people and causing fathers and sons and brothers to kill each other is like chopping off the toes to fit the size of the shoes. Such a practice is very foolish.
Similar Idioms:
- 生搬硬套
