Chinese Idiom: Collective Wisdom Reaps Wide Benefits (集思廣益)

By widely listening to advice and adopting useful suggestions, leaders can achieve better results in administering affairs.

Zhuge Liang paid high regard to the advice of his subordinates. His office became a place known for welcoming discussion. Catherine Chang/Epoch Times

The Chinese idiom 集思廣益 (jí sī guǎng yì), literally “collective wisdom reaps wide benefits,” states that gathering opinions while drawing on all useful ideas is of broad benefit to all.

The idiom originated from a story about the strategist and statesman Zhuge Liang in the historical text “Records of the Three Kingdoms,” which covers the history of China’s late Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D. 184–220) and Three Kingdoms Period (A.D. 220–280).