屠龙

屠龍
túlóng
verb #30,054

Meanings

  1. 1 to slay a dragon
  2. 2 (figurative) to pursue a formidable but futile goal

Examples

Chuánshuō zhōng de yīngxióng qù túlóng, zuìzhōng zhěngjiù le gōngzhǔ.
The hero in the legend went to slay the dragon and ultimately saved the princess.
「Túlóng zhī shù」 bǐyù xué le wúyòng de jìyì.
「The art of dragon-slaying」 is a metaphor for learning a useless skill.

Tips

culture
屠龙 (the art of slaying dragons) comes from Zhuangzi: a man spent three years mastering dragon-slaying, only to find that dragons do not exist. It symbolizes mastering a skill with no practical application.

Stroke Order

lóng