窮鼠齧狸

Chinese

		exhausted; poor	rat; mouse	surname; gnaw	raccoon dog; leopard cat
trad. (窮鼠齧狸/窮鼠嚙狸/窮鼠齧貍/窮鼠嚙貍)		窮	鼠	齧/嚙	狸/貍
simp. (穷鼠啮狸)		穷	鼠	啮	狸

Etymology

From the Discourses on Salt and Iron (鹽鐵論·詔聖／盐铁论·诏圣):

死不再生，窮鼠嚙狸，匹夫奔萬乘，舍人折弓，陳勝、吳廣是也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

死不再生，穷鼠啮狸，匹夫奔万乘，舍人折弓，陈胜、吴广是也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Huan Kuan, Discourses on Salt and Iron, c. 1^st century BCE

Sǐ bù zàishēng, qióng shǔ niè lí, pǐfū bēn wànchéng, shèrén zhé gōng, Chén Shèng, Wú Guǎng shì yě. [Pinyin]

People cannot revive if they die, so a cornered rat will bite a cat; An ordinary man would go to assault the Emperor; A servant of a noble would destroy his bow. This is precisely the case of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qióngshǔ nièlí

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄩㄥˊ ㄕㄨˇ ㄋㄧㄝˋ ㄌㄧˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kung⁴ syu² jit⁶ lei⁴, kung⁴ syu² ngit⁶ lei⁴, kung⁴ syu² ngaat⁶ lei⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qióngshǔ nièlí
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄩㄥˊ ㄕㄨˇ ㄋㄧㄝˋ ㄌㄧˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cyóngshǔ nièlí
    • Wade–Giles: chʻiung²-shu³ nieh⁴-li²
    • Yale: chyúng-shǔ nyè-lí
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyongshuu niehli
    • Palladius: цюншу нели (cjunšu neli)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi̯ʊŋ³⁵ ʂu²¹⁴⁻²¹ ni̯ɛ⁵¹ li³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: kung⁴ syu² jit⁶ lei⁴, kung⁴ syu² ngit⁶ lei⁴, kung⁴ syu² ngaat⁶ lei⁴
    • Yale: kùhng syú yiht lèih, kùhng syú ngiht lèih, kùhng syú ngaaht lèih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kung⁴ sy² jit⁹ lei⁴, kung⁴ sy² ngit⁹ lei⁴, kung⁴ sy² ngaat⁹ lei⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: kung⁴ xu² yid⁶ léi⁴, kung⁴ xu² ngid⁶ léi⁴, kung⁴ xu² ngad⁶ léi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰʊŋ²¹ syː³⁵ jiːt̚² lei̯²¹/, /kʰʊŋ²¹ syː³⁵ ŋiːt̚² lei̯²¹/, /kʰʊŋ²¹ syː³⁵ ŋaːt̚² lei̯²¹/

Idiom

窮鼠齧狸

1. (figurative) a cornered rat will bite a cat, weak people will attack when cornered

Synonyms

• 窮鼠齧貓／穷鼠啮猫 (qióngshǔnièmāo)
• 狗急跳牆／狗急跳墙 (gǒujítiàoqiáng)
• 困獸猶鬥／困兽犹斗

Descendants

• Japanese: 窮鼠(きゅうそ)猫(ねこ)を噛(か)む (kyūso neko o kamu)