拔苗助长 (bá miáo zhù zhǎng)

Character breakdown

• 拔 (bá) · 8 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and and 犮 represents the sound.

• 苗 (Miáo) · 8 strokes

  Sprouts are plants (艹) that rise from the field (田).

• 助 (zhù) · 7 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 力 represents the meaning and 且 represents the sound.

• 长 (cháng) · 4 strokes

  Pictograph of an old person with long hair using a cane to walk. The simplified character 长 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 長.

Usage

教育孩子要循序渐进，不能拔苗助长。

Educating children should be done step by step; you can't force growth.

Jiàoyù háizi yào xúnxùjiànjìn, bù néng bámiáozhùzhǎng.