兔死狗烹
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Chinese[edit]
rabbit | to die; impassable; uncrossable to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid |
dog | cuisine; cooking | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (兔死狗烹) | 兔 | 死 | 狗 | 烹 | |
simp. #(兔死狗烹) | 兔 | 死 | 狗 | 烹 | |
Literally: “to boil the dog once it caught the rabbit”. |
Etymology[edit]
From the Records of the Grand Historian, c. 91 BCE, quoting the fifth-century BCE strategist Fan Li:
- 蜚鳥盡,良弓藏;狡兔死,走狗烹。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE
- Fěi niǎo jìn, liáng gōng cáng; jiǎo tù sǐ, zǒugǒu pēng. [Pinyin]
- When the flying birds are done with, the good bow is stored away; when the sly rabbit dies, the hunting dog is boiled [to eat].
蜚鸟尽,良弓藏;狡兔死,走狗烹。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation[edit]
Idiom[edit]
兔死狗烹
- to get rid of somebody once they have served their purpose
Descendants[edit]
Others:
- → Japanese: 狡兎死して走狗烹らる (kōtoshi shite sōku niraru) (calque)