# 终南捷径

zhōng nán jié jìng

A calculated shortcut to status or advancement

## Meaning & wording

**Literally:** A shortcut through Mount Zhongnan

**Traditional Chinese:** 終南捷徑

**Register:** Formal · literary

[Choices & judgment](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/topics/decisions)

## When to use it

Describe an indirect route that gains reputation and office.

Often critical of career maneuvering.

## Understanding the expression

The expression presents a route that looks indirect but actually advances a career quickly. Modern usage often criticizes someone who cultivates a useful reputation or adopts a fashionable role mainly to gain status. It does not simply praise efficiency. The important distinction is motive: useful learning or genuine public service differs from a carefully staged appearance of virtue. The phrase can expose that gap without requiring every indirect career path to be judged dishonest.

## Examples

他把公益活动当作终南捷径。

### Traditional Chinese

他把公益活動當作終南捷徑。

tā bǎ gōng yì huó dòng dàng zuò zhōng nán jié jìng 。

He treated charity work as a calculated shortcut to advancement.

她拒绝靠关系走终南捷径。

### Traditional Chinese

她拒絕靠關係走終南捷徑。

tā jù jué kào guān xì zǒu zhōng nán jié jìng 。

She refused to use connections as a shortcut to status.

这场讲座被他当成升职的终南捷径。

### Traditional Chinese

這場講座被他當成升職的終南捷徑。

zhè chǎng jiǎng zuò bèi tā dàng chéng shēng zhí de zhōng nán jié jìng 。

He treated the lecture as an indirect shortcut to promotion.

别把读书只看作终南捷径。

### Traditional Chinese

別把讀書只看作終南捷徑。

bié bǎ dú shū zhī kàn zuò zhōng nán jié jìng 。

Do not view study only as a shortcut to advancement.

## Sources & reference checks

Original explanations and examples from Chinese Idioms Almanac. Source-checked October 6, 2026.

- [CC-CEDICT · forms & pronunciation](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdqb=%E7%B5%82%E5%8D%97%E6%8D%B7%E5%BE%91)

- [Ministry of Education · 成語典](https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/idiomView.jsp?ID=991&webMd=1&la=0)

## Keep exploring

- [自投罗网 zì tóu luó wǎng Walk into a trap oneself ](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/zi-tou-luo-wang)

- [自作自受 zì zuò zì shòu Suffer the consequences of one's own actions ](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/zi-zuo-zi-shou)

- [走投无路 zǒu tóu wú lù Have no viable way out ](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/zou-tou-wu-lu)

- [作茧自缚 zuò jiǎn zì fù Trap oneself through one's own actions ](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/zuo-jian-zi-fu)

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