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Something that should be done urgently; the most important task amongst all other tasks that must be done
Neutral
增加农民的收入已成为当务之急了 | Zēngjiā nóngmín de shōurù yǐ chéngwéi dāngwùzhījí le
Increasing farmers' wages has already become the top priority
[Source]
当务之急是弄清楚这些人出了什么事 | Dāngwùzhījí shì nòng qīngchǔ zhèxiē rén chū le shénme shì
Finding out what happened to these people is the top priority
[Source]
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This is an HSK chengyu
《孟子》(Mèng Zǐ), a classic Confucian work written by the philosopher of the same name. The work is often known in English as "The Book of Mencius."
During the Warring States period (战国时期 | zhànguó shíqī | 475 - 221 BC), the disciples of 孟子 (Mèng Zǐ, or Mencius) wanted to know how to determine which among many urgent tasks should be undertaken next. 孟子 replied that knowledgeable people should know which task is the most important and should do that first. As an example, he pointed out that benevolent people loved all things, but that they first loved their relatives and the sages