治 标 不 治 本

zhì biāo bù zhì běndictionary entry

to treat the symptoms but not the root cause

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-0d99aad162995042. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

治標不治本治标不治本 [zhi4 biao1 bu4 zhi4 ben3] /to treat the symptoms but not the root cause/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 治標不治本

治
zhì
to rule / to govern / to manage / to control / to harness (a river) / to treat (a disease) / to wipe out (a pest) / to punish / to research
标
biāo
mark / sign / label / to mark with a symbol, label, lettering etc / to bear (a brand name, registration number etc) / prize / award / bid / target / quota / (old) the topmost branches of a tree / visible symptom / classifier for military units
不
bù
no / not so / (bound form) not / un-
治
zhì
to rule / to govern / to manage / to control / to harness (a river) / to treat (a disease) / to wipe out (a pest) / to punish / to research
本
běn
(bound form) root / stem / (bound form) origin / source / (bound form) one's own / this / (bound form) this / the current (year etc) / (bound form) original / (bound form) inherent / originally / initially / capital / principal / classifier for books, periodicals, files etc

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.