This is a really useful idiom! Literally, \u9a91\u864e\u96be\u4e0b(q\u00ed h\u01d4 n\u00e1n xi\u00e0) means \u201cride tiger difficult to dismount\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story is said to have originated in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. After the first emperor died the emperor\u2019s son, Sima Yan, became the ruler. But not long after Sima Yan took over, one of the leaders in his army, General Su, staged a coup and seized control of the capital. Two governors in the area learned of the rebellion and joined forces to overthrow General Su and reinstate Sima Yan. The area was plunged into a very long civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a series of disheartening defeats, one of the governors told the other that he thought it would be best to withdraw from the war. The other governor said, however, that they could not stop fighting at this point because the war they were fighting was like riding a tiger; if they got off now the tiger would just turn around and attack them. The governors strengthened their resolve and together vanquished General Su. Sima Yan was finally reinstated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, saying \u9a91\u864e\u96be\u4e0b(q\u00ed h\u01d4 n\u00e1n xi\u00e0) refers to a situation where quitting could have disastrous results. English speakers might say you have the snake by the tail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example 1:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He promised his friend he would complete this task, but now he is unable to do so. He can only do whatever he promised, and it is hard for him to quit. Example 2:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I was just kidding him. To my surprise, he believed it. The result was a mess. Example 3:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The company has not rented somewhere for the activity to take place yet, but the advertisement for the activity has already been displayed. It is a hard situation for the company. Three People Become a Tiger<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This next Chinese idiom is about the power that people can have if they all speak together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To say \u4e09\u4eba\u6210\u864e(s\u0101n r\u00e9n ch\u00e9n\u0261 h\u01d4) literally means \u201cthree people become a tiger.\u201d But without understanding the context and the tale behind this chengyu, it is a little tricky to understand – you might, for example, think that it refers to groups becoming violent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n This tale is said to date back to the Warring States Period. The emperor of the Kingdom of Wei was going on a journey to the Kingdom of Chao and was taking a minister named Pang Tsung with him. Pang Tsung was a very wise adviser, and as they were traveling, he asked the emperor some questions. One of the questions he asked was, \u201cIf a man came in to tell you that there was a tiger in the street, would you believe him?\u201d The emperor replied certainly not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pang Tsung continued, \u201cBut if a second man came in to tell you that there was a tiger in the street would you believe it then?\u201d The emperor replied that he would not believe, but he would halfway believe it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pang Tsung then asked, \u201cIf a third man came in yelling that there was a tiger in the street, then would you believe all of them?\u201d The emperor said that yes, then he would believe there was indeed a tiger in the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pang Tsung replied, \u201cWhen I am gone I hope that you do not believe evil of me even if three or more people say bad things about me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nowadays, the wise chengyu \u4e09\u4eba\u6210\u864e(s\u0101n r\u00e9n ch\u00e9n\u0261 h\u01d4) is used to warn against believing in idle gossip even if many people believe such a thing is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example 1:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rumors are terrible. The more people who spread them, the more complicated it is to tell reality from fiction. Example 2:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously this isn\u2019t true. However, with all the rumors spreading, people believe that it did happen. Letting the Tiger Escape<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you say the phrase \u7eb5\u864e\u5f52\u5c71 it can be directly translated as \u201creleased tiger returns mountain.\u201d But the meaning is not really about tigers escaping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Long ago in the Eastern Han dynasty there was a civil war. A ruler named Cao wished to end the war by befriending a warlord named Liu and fighting together. However, Cao\u2019s adviser said that Liu must be vanquished and that allowing him to go free was like releasing a tiger back to the mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cao did not heed this advice and decided to befriend Liu. Sure enough, after the war was finished, Liu later came back and fought against Cao. Cao\u2019s adviser, who saw Liu\u2019s true tiger-like character, was proved correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you say \u7eb5\u864e\u5f52\u5c71\uff08z\u00f2n\u0261 h\u01d4 \u0261u\u012b sh\u0101n\uff09today, you are referring to someone allowing something to happen which might have bad consequences in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example 1:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Letting the thief go is like \u7eb5\u864e\u5f52\u5c71, because he might steal again. Example 2:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is his second time he embezzled the company fund. You should call the police, otherwise, you are \u7eb5\u864e\u5f52\u5c71. If you know more idioms about tiger, please share them with us in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once you have grasped the basics of Mandarin, you will discover that one of the most interesting, if complex areas to study is chengyu. Chengyu are four character idioms which are derived from a powerful story. Studying chengyu can give us insight into not only the language of China, but its history and culture as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":6740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,1],"tags":[122,84],"post_series":[],"class_list":["post-6736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-expressions","category-learn-mandarin-online","tag-chinese-culture","tag-vocabulary","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\n
\u4ed6\u6ca1\u6709\u80fd\u529b\u505a\u8fd9\u4ef6\u4e8b,\u4f46\u56e0\u4e3a\u5df2\u7ecf\u7b54\u5e94\u4e86\u4ed6\u7684\u670b\u53cb\uff0c\u73b0\u5728\u53ea\u80fd\u786c\u7740\u5934\u76ae\u7ee7\u7eed\u505a\uff0c\u771f\u662f\u9a91\u864e\u96be\u4e0b\u3002
(T\u0101 m\u00e9iy\u01d2u n\u00e9n\u0261l\u00ec zu\u00f2 zh\u00e8 ji\u00e0n sh\u00ec, d\u00e0n y\u012bnw\u00e8i y\u01d0j\u012bn\u0261 d\u0101y\u00ecn\u0261 le t\u0101 de p\u00e9n\u0261you, xi\u00e0nz\u00e0i zh\u01d0 n\u00e9n\u0261 y\u00ecn\u0261 zhe t\u00f3up\u00ed j\u00ecx\u00f9 zu\u00f2, zh\u0113nsh\u00ec q\u00edh\u01d4n\u00e1nxi\u00e0.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u6211\u53ea\u662f\u5f00\u4e86\u4e00\u4e2a\u73a9\u7b11\uff0c\u8c01\u77e5\u9053\u4ed6\u5c45\u7136\u76f8\u4fe1\u4e86\uff0c\u6700\u540e\u5f04\u5f97\u9a91\u864e\u96be\u4e0b\uff0c\u96be\u4ee5\u6536\u62fe\u3002
(W\u01d2 zh\u01d0sh\u00ec k\u0101i le y\u00ed \u0261\u00e8 w\u00e1nxi\u00e0o\uff0cshu\u00ed zh\u012bd\u00e0o t\u0101 j\u016br\u00e1n xi\u0101n\u0261x\u00ecn le\uff0czu\u00ech\u00f2u n\u00f2n\u0261d\u00e9 q\u00edh\u01d4n\u00e1nxi\u00e0, n\u00e1ny\u01d0 sh\u014dushi.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u516c\u53f8\u8fd8\u6ca1\u6709\u79df\u5230\u4e3e\u529e\u6d3b\u52a8\u7684\u573a\u5730\uff0c\u4f46\u662f\u5e7f\u544a\u5df2\u7ecf\u6295\u653e\u51fa\u53bb\u4e86\uff0c\u73b0\u5728\u600e\u4e48\u529e\uff0c\u771f\u662f\u9a91\u864e\u96be\u4e0b\u3002
(G\u014dn\u0261s\u012b h\u00e1i m\u00e9iy\u01d2u z\u016b d\u00e0o j\u01d4b\u00e0n hu\u00f3d\u00f2n\u0261 de ch\u01cen\u0261d\u00ec, d\u00e0nsh\u00ec \u0261u\u01cen\u0261\u0261\u00e0o y\u01d0j\u012bn\u0261 t\u00f3uf\u00e0n\u0261 ch\u016bqu le\uff0c xi\u00e0nz\u00e0i z\u011bnmeb\u00e0n\uff0czh\u0113nsh\u00ec q\u00edh\u01d4n\u00e1nxi\u00e0.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"tiger\"](\"https:\/\/www.digmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tiger.jpg)
\u4e09\u4eba\u6210\u864e (S\u0101n r\u00e9n ch\u00e9ng h\u01d4)<\/h2>\n\n\n
\u8c23\u8a00\u7684\u53ef\u6015\u4e4b\u5904\u5c31\u5728\u4e8e\u4e09\u4eba\u6210\u864e\uff0c\u8bf4\u7684\u4eba\u591a\u4e86\uff0c\u5c31\u4f1a\u8ba9\u4f60\u5f04\u4e0d\u6e05\u771f\u5047\u3002
(Y\u00e1oy\u00e1n de k\u011bp\u00e0 zh\u012bch\u00f9 ji\u00f9 z\u00e0iy\u00fa s\u0101nr\u00e9nch\u00e9n\u0261h\u01d4, shu\u014d de r\u00e9n du\u014d le, ji\u00f9 hu\u00ec r\u00e0n\u0261 n\u01d0 n\u00f2n\u0261 b\u00f9 q\u012bn\u0261 zh\u0113nji\u01ce.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u660e\u660e\u662f\u6ca1\u6709\u53d1\u751f\u8fc7\u7684\u4e8b\uff0c\u4f46\u662f\u8c23\u8a00\u4e00\u4f20\uff0c\u5c31\u4f1a\u4e09\u4eba\u6210\u864e\uff01
(M\u00edn\u0261m\u00edn\u0261 sh\u00ec m\u00e9iy\u01d2u f\u0101sh\u0113n\u0261 \u0261u\u00f2 de sh\u00ec\uff0cd\u00e0nsh\u00ec y\u00e1oy\u00e1n y\u00ec chu\u00e1n, ji\u00f9 hu\u00ec s\u0101nr\u00e9nch\u00e9n\u0261h\u01d4.)<\/p>\n\n\n\u7eb5\u864e\u5f52\u5c71 (Z\u00f2ng h\u01d4 gu\u012b sh\u0101n)<\/h2>\n\n\n
\u4f60\u628a\u5c0f\u5077\u653e\u8d70\u5c31\u662f\u5728\u7eb5\u864e\u5f52\u5c71\uff0c\u4ee5\u540e\u4ed6\u4e5f\u4e00\u5b9a\u4f1a\u7ee7\u7eed\u5077\u4e1c\u897f\uff01
(N\u01d0 b\u01ce xi\u01ceot\u014du f\u00e0n\u0261 z\u01d2u ji\u00f9sh\u00ec z\u00e0i z\u00f2n\u0261h\u01d4\u0261u\u012bsh\u0101n, y\u01d0h\u00f2u t\u0101 y\u011b y\u00edd\u00ecn\u0261 hu\u00ec j\u00ecx\u00f9 t\u014du d\u014dn\u0261xi!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u8fd9\u6b21\u4ed6\u53c8\u632a\u7528\u516c\u6b3e\uff0c\u4f60\u4e00\u5b9a\u8981\u62a5\u8b66\uff0c\u5426\u5219\u5c31\u662f\u7eb5\u864e\u5f52\u5c71\u3002
(Zh\u00e8c\u00ec t\u0101 y\u00f2u nu\u00f3y\u00f2n\u0261 \u0261\u014dn\u0261ku\u01cen\uff0cn\u01d0 y\u00edd\u00ecn\u0261 y\u00e0o b\u00e0oj\u01d0n\u0261, f\u01d2uz\u00e9 ji\u00f9sh\u00ec z\u00f2n\u0261h\u01d4\u0261u\u012bsh\u0101n.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n