兔死狗烹

Chinese

rabbit
 
to die; impassable; uncrossable
to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid
dog cuisine; cooking
trad. (兔死狗烹)
simp. #(兔死狗烹)
Literally: “to boil the dog once it caught the rabbit”.

Etymology

From the Records of the Grand Historian, c. 91 BCE, quoting the fifth-century BCE strategist Fan Li:

[Classical Chinese, trad.]
[Classical Chinese, simp.]
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].

Pronunciation


Idiom

兔死狗烹

  1. to get rid of somebody once they have served their purpose

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (兔死狗烹):
  • Korean: 토사구팽(兎死狗烹) (tosagupaeng)

Others:

  • Japanese: 狡兎死(こうとし)して走狗烹(そうくに)らる (kōtoshi shite sōku niraru) (calque)
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