螳 螂 捕 蝉，黄 雀 在 后

táng láng bǔ chán , huáng què zài hòudictionary entry

(lit.) the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the siskin behind (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuāng zǐ]) / (fig.) to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger

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-db731bd808740fdc. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

螳螂捕蟬，黃雀在後 螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后 [tang2 lang2 bu3 chan2 , huang2 que4 zai4 hou4] /(lit.) the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the siskin behind (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3])/(fig.) to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger/

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Reference information

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

Character information

Other forms in these source records: 螳螂捕蟬，黃雀在後

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

螳螂捕蝉黄雀在后

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.