治丝益棼 — Chinese idiom

Meaning

• lit. try to straighten out silk threads only to tangle them further
• fig. to try to help but end up making things worse

Character by character

• 治zhìto administer, to govern, to regulate
• 丝sīsilk, fine thread; wire; strings
• 益yìto profit, to benefit; advantage
• 棼fénrafters; disordered, confused

Idioms sharing a character

• 分而治之 fēn ér zhì zhī
• 励精图治 lì jīng tú zhì
• 文治武功 wén zhì wǔ gōng
• 臻于郅治 zhēn yú zhì zhì
• 齐家治国 qí jiā zhì guó
• 一丝一毫 yī sī yī háo
• 一丝不挂 yī sī bù guà
• 一丝不苟 yī sī bù gǒu
• 千丝万缕 qiān sī wàn lǚ
• 吐丝自缚 tǔ sī zì fù

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.