焚琴煮鹤

lit. to burn zithers and cook cranes / fig. to waste valuable resources / to destroy wantonly beautiful things

to burn

guqin 古琴[gu3 qin2] (a type of zither) / musical instrument in general

variant of 琴[qin2], guqin or zither

variant of 煮[zhu3]

to cook / to boil

crane