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To expend a lot of effort but have things get worse and worse
Negative
反动派妄图扑灭革命火种,但心劳日拙,无济于事 | Fǎndòngpài wàngtú pūmiè gémìng huǒzhòng, dàn xīnláorìzhuō, wújìyúshì
The opposition party tried to quash the flames of revolution, but in the end they only made things worse
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《尚书》(Shàng Shū), generally known in English as the "Book of Historical Documents" or "Book of History." It is one of the five classics of ancient Chinese literature.
This chengyu is from a line in the work listed in the "Origin" section above