上梁不正下梁歪 (Shàng liáng bú zhèng xià liáng wāi)

Meaning: When leaders or parents behave badly, those below them follow.

Literally: If the upper beam is crooked, the lower one slants

Example: “经理天天迟到，员工也跟着迟到。上梁不正下梁歪。” — The manager is late every day, so the staff are late too: the fish rots from the head down.

Equivalents in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and 4 more languages

English: The fish rots from the head down
French: Le poisson pourrit par la tête (literally: The fish rots from the head)
Spanish: El pez se pudre por la cabeza (literally: The fish rots from the head)
German: Der Fisch stinkt vom Kopf (literally: The fish stinks from the head)
Italian: Il pesce puzza dalla testa (literally: The fish stinks from the head)
Russian: Рыба гниёт с головы (Ryba gniyot s golovy) (literally: The fish rots from the head)
Polish: Ryba psuje się od głowy (literally: The fish spoils from the head)
Korean: 윗물이 맑아야 아랫물이 맑다 (Witmuri malgaya araenmuri makda) (literally: The downstream water is clear only if the upstream is)
Turkish: Balık baştan kokar (literally: The fish stinks from the head)

Origin: A builder's image: a crooked roof beam throws every beam beneath it out of true.

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