Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

trên trông xuống, dưới trông lên

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Those in higher positions look down on those below, while those below look up to those above

Literally: above look down, below look up

Examples

Trong công ty, trên trông xuống, dưới trông lên nên không ai dám nói thẳngIn the company, people in higher positions look down on those below, while those below look up to those above, so no one dares to speak frankly

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

Sources & notes

Discovered via Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “trên trông xuống, dưới trông lên” mean?

Those in higher positions look down on those below, while those below look up to those above Literally: above look down, below look up

Is “trên trông xuống, dưới trông lên” formal or informal?

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