Chinese idioms keeping bad things at bay
Our proverbs come with full information. The modern Chinese characters are given first with links that give information on the character. As proverbs are so old you will often see them written using the traditional form of characters; so if some of the characters have been simplified the traditional form is shown in brackets and gray text. The characters are followed by the proverb (normally a 成语 chéng yǔ) in pinyin. Next, there is a crude character by character transliteration into English, followed by a more accurate English translation. If this is a Chinese proverb alluding to history the meaning may still not be clear in English, so the general meaning follows. Finally some proverbs have fairly direct English equivalents, if so the English proverb is shown.
For background on the types and history of proverbs please see our guide.
A set of proverbs that warn against evil and demonstrate how it can be resisted or avoided.
臭不可当 [臭不可噹]
Worst ever smell
To give off an unbearable stink.
打草惊蛇 [打草驚蛇]
Striking the grass alerts the snake
It is unwise to alert an enemy of your presence.
Roughly equivalent to: Let sleeping dogs lie.
道高一尺,魔高一丈 [道高一尺魔高一丈]
Where good flourishes, evil can flourish even more
There is always opportunity for evil to take root.
恶贯满盈 [噁貫滿盈]
If evil was placed like discs on a string it would be always be full.
Evil is all around. Traditionally coins had holes in them and they were strung together.
恩将仇报 [恩將仇報]
Repay kindness with hostility
Reject kindness.
Roughly equivalent to: Biting the hand that feeds it.
逢奸宁可玉碎,气正不求瓦全 [逢奸宁可玉碎氣正不求瓦全]
In face of evil, rather be a broken jade than an intact brick
It is better to die with honor than surrender.
改邪归正 [改邪歸正]
Abandon evil and turn to good
Reject bad ways and turn to the good.
Roughly equivalent to: Turn over a new leaf.
狗猛酒酸
A fierce dog bankrupts a liquor store. A story of a shopkeeper who lost all his customers due to his ferocious dog
Bad company discourages true friends.
假公济私 [假公濟私]
Swindle public to help yourself
Use public office for personal gain.
Roughly equivalent to: Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
口蜜腹剑 [口蜜腹劍]
Mouth of honey, heart of daggers
Disguising ill intent with honeyed words. Deceitful and dangerous.
落井下石
After someone falls into a well throw in a stone
To add needlessly to someone's misfortunes.
Roughly equivalent to: Hit a man when he is down.
没做亏心事,不怕鬼叫门 [沒做虧心事不怕鬼叫門]
Clear conscience does not fear a knock at midnight
If you have done nothing wrong, there is no worry over retribution.
Roughly equivalent to: As you make your bed, so you must lie upon it.
泥人怕雨,谎言怕理 [泥人怕雨謊言怕理]
A mud figure fears rain; a lie fears truth
Over time lies will eventually be laid bare.
Roughly equivalent to: Truth will out.
说曹操,曹操到 [說曹操曹操到]
Speak of Cao Cao and he arrives
'Cao Cao ➚ of the Three Kingdoms is the embodiment of evil. Someone who you are talking about happens to appear unexpectedly.
Roughly equivalent to: Speak of the devil and he is sure to appear.
天下乌鸦一般黑 [天下烏鴉一般黑]
Crows everywhere are all black
Bad people are all the same. You find bad people everywhere.
偷梁换柱 [偷梁換柱]
Steal beams replaced with wooden poles
To carry out a crafty deception.
兔子不吃窝边草 [兔子不吃窩邊草]
Rabbits do not eat the grass around their burrows
Thieves do not steal from neighbors.
笑里藏刀
A dagger concealed in a smile
Malice concealed by apparent friendliness. There is a story of Li Yifu who was a great flatterer of the early Tang dynasty. He was always smiles but sought to blackmail and deceive. Eventually Emperor Gaozong discovered his duplicity and he was banished.
Roughly equivalent to: Don't judge a book by its cover.
心若死灰
Heart reduced to ashes
Desperately unhappy.
学好三年,学坏三天 [學好三年學壞三天]
It takes three years to learn well; it takes only three days to degrade
Falling into bad ways is far easier than keeping to the good.
Roughly equivalent to: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
贼喊捉贼 [賊喊捉賊]
A thief cries 'Stop thief!'
Diverting attention to cover misdoing.
Roughly equivalent to: Crying 'wolf'
自高自大
Think oneself tall and great
Full of conceit and ego.
自我陶醉
Drunk with oneself. Narcissistic
Conceited and arrogant.
芒刺在背
A thorn in one's flesh
Someone or something is causing continuous irritation.
请君入瓮 [請君入甕]
Please step into the vat
To fall victim to a punishment that you yourself devised. The story is from the reign of Empress Wu Zetian when two cruel ministers vied to create the vilest tortures. Zhou Ying suggested a large vat should be heated and the victim placed in it. His fellow minister threatened Zhou Ying with his own torture. Zhou then rapidly confessed to all his crimes!
Roughly equivalent to: To give someone a taste of their own medicine.
东窗事发 [東窗事發]
The plot at the east window has been exposed
The game is up. Generally said of villains whose evil plans have been thwarted. The story is of Qin Hui of the Song dynasty who hatched a plot under the east window of his house to tell lies about General Yue Fei. Qin Hui and his son died shortly after Yue Fei was executed. Qin's wife Wang used a necromancer who discovered the truth and was told by Qin's spirit that the East window plot had been exposed.
Roughly equivalent to: The chickens have come home to roost.
苛政猛于虎 [苛政猛於虎]
Tyranny is more terrible than tigers
The story is that Confucius met a woman near mount Taishan who was weeping bitterly. When asked, she said she had lost father-in-law, husband and son to marauding tigers. When Confucius asked why then she did not move to a safer village she replied that she was sheltering from a despotic government and would rather risk tigers than oppression. Evil government is the worst of evils.
赔了夫人又折兵 [賠了夫人又折兵]
Losing the lady and the soldiers
Hatching an evil plot that backfires spectacularly. The story is that Sun Quan in the Three Kingdoms period wanted to take territory from the Shu kingdom. He offered his sister's hand in marriage but secretly plotted to attack Liu Bei's troops at the ceremony. Master strategist Zhuge Liang saw through the trap and Liu Bei managed to marry Sun's sister as well as defeat Sun's troops.
杀妻求将 [殺妻求將]
Killing your wife to become a general
Ruthless action to further one's ambition. The story is of Wu Qi who served the state of Lu. His wife originally came from the enemy state of Qi; seeing this as an obstacle to his ambition to become a general, he killed his wife. He got the promotion so it is about ruthless but effective action.
Roughly equivalent to: Sell your grandmother.
指鹿为马 [指鹿爲馬]
Making a deer out to be a horse
Lying to mislead others; a deliberate misrepresentation often to please someone important. The famous story goes back to the time of the second Qin Emperor (c. 209BCE) who was an infant and the effective ruler was the despotic Zhao Gao. He presented a stag to the Emperor proclaiming it to be a fine horse. The Imperial ministers were so fearful that when asked whether a stag was a stag or a horse many said a horse. Zhao Gao had all those who told the truth and said 'stag' executed as he wanted ministers who would so anything he said.
Roughly equivalent to: What a tangled web we weave.
项庄舞剑,意在沛公 [項莊舞劍,意在沛公]
Xiang Zhuang performs the sword dance but his intention was to kill Liu Bang
An elaborate evil deception. The Duke of Pei was one of the titles of the first Han Emperor (r. 202-195BCE) Liu Bang. Xiang Zuang was a sword-fighter who intended to murder Liu Bang. In order to get close to Liu he performed a sword dance in front of him. fortunately for Liu the plot was unmasked by Fan Kuai and Liu escaped unharmed. Refers to a hidden malicious agenda.
恶人先告状 [噁人先告狀]
The offender is the first to complain
The perpetrator diverts attention by being the first to complain.
Roughly equivalent to: To cry 'wolf'
害群之马 [害群之馬]
The horse that causes trouble to the herd
The bad person of the family or group.
Roughly equivalent to: Bad apple; Black sheep.
虎视眈眈 [虎眎眈眈]
A tiger's stare. To look covetously
To eye enviously.
狼心狗肺
Wolves are aggressive, dog bark. Ungrateful; cruel and unscrupulous
Ungrateful and unscrupulous.
人恶人怕天不怕,人善人欺天不欺 [人噁人怕天不怕人善人欺天不欺]
Evil people are dreaded by other people not by heaven; good people may be cheated by people but not by heaven
Even though evil works may go unpunished on earth, good works do not go unnoticed in heaven. Reward for good may not be immediately received.
邪门歪道 [邪門歪道]
Evil people in crooked ways
Dishonesty and deceit.
雪上加霜
Add frost to snow
To add to misfortunes unnecessarily.
Roughly equivalent to: Add insult to injury.
一正压百邪 [一正壓百邪]
Justice can overpower a hundred evils
Justice is the main defense against evil.
百足之虫死而不僵 [百足之蟲死而不僵]
A centipede with a hundred legs does not lose its life after one blow
An evil is not easily disposed of; old institutions take a long time to renew.
罄竹难书 [罄竹難書]
So many crimes that there is not enough bamboo to record them all
So evil that there is not enough paper to record all the misdemeanors. Records used to be made on bamboo strips before paper was invented.
挂羊头卖狗肉 [掛羊頭賣狗肉]
Hanging up a sheep's head but selling dog meat
Deceiving people into believing you are selling something much less valuable than it appears to be. A con trick. Dishonest advertising.
Roughly equivalent to: Buying a pig in a poke.
贪天之功 [貪天之功]
Appropriate the achievements of others
Cheating others of their just reward. The story is of an official who was swindled out of his just reward for good service. Eventually the ruler worked out what had happened and he was given an even greater reward.
Roughly equivalent to: Rough justice.
眼中之钉 [眼中之釘]
A nail in the eye
Real adversity. The story is of Zhao Zaili of the Later Jin dynasty [936-946] who was a cruel and unjust governor. When it was rumored that he would be moved to another region the people rejoiced about their nail in their eyes being removed. However the jubilation was premature, as when Zhao heard about it he determined to stay on and what is more charge the people of Songzhou a new 'nail removal tax'.
Roughly equivalent to: A thorn in the flesh.
巧取豪夺 [巧取豪奪]
Grab by trick or by force
Cheat others of their valuables by trickery or force.
Roughly equivalent to: Rip off.
梁上君子
The gentleman on the roof beam
Euphemism for a thief. As traditional Chinese roof tiles were not tacked down it was very easy to access a house via the roof.
Roughly equivalent to: Caught with your hand in the cookie jar.
煽风点火 [煽風點火]
Create wind and fire
Create a lot of trouble.
幸灾乐祸 [幸災樂禍]
Delighting in the misfortune of others
The story is of a king who delighted in the plight of the neighboring kingdom that was suffering from famine and would not help them even though he had received help when his people were suffering. So it means sadistic glee.
Roughly equivalent to: Schadenfreude.
含沙射影
Making insinuations
To spit sand at someone's shadow, in other words to attack someone indirectly by innuendo. There is a legend of a three-legged turtle that would spit out sand at anyone who passed. Its spittle was so noxious that it would infect someone even if it only hit their shadow.
不寒而栗 [不寒而慄]
Shivering yet not cold
Shudder with fear and dread. There is a story of a sadistic official of the Han dynasty who arbitrarily sentenced people to death. When their relatives and friends came to protest he had them executed too. Everyone was quaking with fear when they saw the official.
Roughly equivalent to: Shake like a leaf.
倒戈相向
Attack own party
Betray one's own side.