求全责备

求全責備

qiúquán-zébèi

idiom

Meanings

1 to demand perfection
2 to be overly critical
3 to nitpick

Characters

to seek, demand

complete, whole

to demand, require

complete, prepared

Examples

HSK 5

对新员工不要求全责备，要给他们成长的空间。

Duì xīn yuángōng búyào qiúquán-zébèi, yào gěi tāmen chéngzhǎng de kōngjiān.

Don't demand perfection from new employees - give them room to grow.

HSK 5

父母对孩子求全责备反而有害。

Fùmǔ duì háizi qiúquán-zébèi fǎn'ér yǒuhài.

Parents being overly demanding of their children is actually harmful.

Tips

history

Rooted in 《论语·微子》: 无求备于一人 ('don't demand that one person be perfectly complete'). The negative value is Confucian: judge people by their strengths, not their flaws.

mistakes

责备 here means 'to demand completeness' (备=complete), not 'to scold' as in modern usage. Don't interpret it as 'demanding and scolding'.

Stroke Order

求 qiú

全 quán

责 zé

备 bèi