To invert the root and the branch; to focus on the minor details while neglecting the essentials or to confuse the cause and effect.

The order of things or events is reversed; used as a metaphor for failing to distinguish between the fundamental and the incidental, or between what is urgent and what can wait

To reverse the primary and secondary importance of things; to put the incidental before the fundamental or the cart before the horse.

A style of traditional Chinese historiography that presents history through separate, comprehensive accounts of important events, detailing each from beginning to end. It was established by [[袁枢|袁樞|yuan2 shu1]] in the Southern Song dynasty and is often contrasted with the [[编年体|編年體|bian1 nian2 ti3]] and [[纪传体|紀傳體|ji4 zhuan4 ti3]] styles.