Bite the navel: bite the navel with your mouth. It's like biting your navel. Metaphor is too late to regret. So why do you regret biting your navel? It turns out that this idiom refers to a musk deer (shè).

Hunters often catch musk deer to get musk (the perfume secreted by male musk deer umbilical gland sac is musk, which is a very precious medicinal material). In order to protect themselves, musk deer will bite the umbilical gland sac when they escape, so hunters lose interest in it. Once caught in a cage, "eating navel" is useless, which is the origin of this idiom. Also known as "common eating umbilicus" and "why eat umbilicus".

Source:

"Zuo Zhuan Zhuang Gong Six Years": "If you don't draw early, you will eat gas (gas: the same as' navel'). What is the picture?"

Translation:

"Zuo Zhuan Zhuang Gong Six Years": "If you don't make plans early, you will regret it, just like biting your navel with your mouth. Where can I get it? "

Story:

During the Spring and Autumn Period, King Wen of Chu led an army to attack Shen Guo (now Nanyang) and passed through Deng Guo (now Dengzhou, Nanyang), trying to find out the details of Deng Guo by the way. Deng introduced to the ministers that he was Deng's nephew. And gave a banquet in honor of King Zhu Wen.

Deng Qihou's other three nephews offered to kill King Chu Wen, but Deng Qihou refused. The third nephew said, "It must be this man who will destroy Deng Guo in the future. Missing this good opportunity will be like biting your navel in the future. You can't reach it at all, and it's too late to regret it! "

Deng Qihou said: "I did this, who will come to see me in the future!" The three nephews said, "If you don't do this, even your ancestors will be sacrificed. What are you waiting for? " Deng Qihou still refused.

King Wen of Chu had long cherished the ambition of expansion, and he did not give up his aggressive policy because of his blood relationship. The year when King Chu Wen came back from attacking Shen Guo, he ordered a massive attack on Deng Guo. Ten years later, King Wen of Chu really destroyed Deng Guo.

This incident led to a historical allusion, "the navel can't reach it." It's like biting your navel. Out of reach. This metaphor means doing something and regretting it.