Có cơm thì vạn người hầu, có bấc có dầu thì vạn người khêu

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

When you have power or wealth, many people will follow or flatter you

Literally: Having rice then ten thousand people obey, having wick and oil then ten thousand people welcome

Examples

Gia đình anh ấy giàu có, có cơm thì vạn người hầuHis family is rich, and many people flatter them because of their wealth

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-05; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Có cơm thì vạn người hầu, có bấc có dầu thì vạn người khêu” mean?

When you have power or wealth, many people will follow or flatter you Literally: Having rice then ten thousand people obey, having wick and oil then ten thousand people welcome

Is “Có cơm thì vạn người hầu, có bấc có dầu thì vạn người khêu” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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