当务之急 (dāng wù zhī jí)

Chinese Idiom: 当务之急
Pinyin: dāng wù zhī jí
Literal: the urgent task one is attending to.
Figurative: the most critical and pressing matter that needs immediate attention among all current‑day tasks. It refers to the top‑priority issue at the present moment.

Origin

This idiom comes from Mencius · Jin Xin Shang (《孟子·尽心上》).

“知者无不知也，当务之为急。”
Translation: “A wise man knows many things, yet he focuses first on what is the urgent duty of the time.”

Mencius explained that even knowledgeable people should not chase countless minor things; instead, they ought to handle the most urgent practical business first. Gradually, the phrase evolved into the fixed idiom dāng wù zhī jí.

English Equivalents & Usage

• the top priority;
• the pressing matter of the moment;
• the most urgent task at hand.

It is a formal neutral‑toned idiom, widely used in speeches, articles and daily discussions for work, governance and life scenarios.

Key Lesson

Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the urgent. You cannot do everything at once. Wise people – and effective leaders – know how to identify the one thing that will make the biggest difference right now, and they focus on it before anything else. Prioritization is a form of wisdom.

Cultural Note

In Chinese culture, this idiom is used everywhere – from government policy announcements to casual office chats. It is a very practical idiom, not a poetic one. It reflects the Confucian value of practical wisdom over abstract theory: knowing what to do is good, but knowing what to do first is even better.