Definition
屠龙 comes from a Zhuangzi parable about a man who spent three years learning to slay dragons, only to find no dragons existed. It describes a skill or technique that is highly refined but completely impractical — a 'white elephant' in the sense of useless mastery. You'll see it in phrases like 屠龙之技 (the art of dragon-slaying) to criticize over-specialization.
noun
a highly refined skill with no practical applicationa useless art
Examples
- 屠龙，。Tā huā le hěn duō nián yánjiū zhè mén tú lóng zhī shù, kěxī háo wú yòngchù.He spent many years studying this dragon-slaying art, but unfortunately it's completely useless.
- ，屠龙。Zhè zhǒng lǐlùn suīrán jīngmiào, què búguò shì tú lóng zhī jì.This theory, though exquisite, is nothing more than a dragon-slaying skill.
- ，屠龙。Zài shíyòng zhǔyì zhě kànlái, tā de xuéwèn wú yì yú tú lóng.From a pragmatist's perspective, his knowledge is no different from dragon-slaying.
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