Unable to Get off from the Tiger
| Characters: |
 |
Pronunciation:
qi(2) hu(3) nan(3) xia(4)
Explanation:
a
metaphor for describing someone who is in
a difficult situation
Tone:
Neutral
The
Story: In 328 AD, General Su Jun in East
Jin rebelled and his army marched to the capital.
Minister Wen Qiao was appointed to cease the
rebellion. As Su Jun's army was very strong
at first, Wen Qiao was in an inferior position,
and his general leader Tao Kan was depressed.
Wen
Qiao noticed this, and he said to Tao Kan:
"In this circumstance, you can't go back.
It is just like we are on a tiger's back,
and unable to get off. All we should do now
is to kill the tiger and get free." Tao
Kan thought about this and agreed with him.
He
cheered up, and defeated Su Jun in a few months.
Usage
Example (Pinyin): Ta(1) xian(4) zai(4)
shi(4) qi(2) hu(3) nan(2) xia(4), kai(4) lai(2)
mei(2) ren(2) neng(2) bang(1) ta(1).
Usage
Example (English translation): He is unable
to get off from the tiger. Seems like no one
can help.
Note:
The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4
spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create
those above where after each syllable we tell
you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond
to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to
complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms
newsletter with a good offline study program.
