Chinese Idiom

狐假虎威🔊

Hú Jiǎ Hǔ Wēi
📚 Idioms⏱ 3 min read🎧 Audio

This idiom means borrowing power to bully others.

The Story 🔊

Lǎohǔ zhuāzhù le yì zhī húli
老虎Lǎohǔ🔊抓住zhuāzhù🔊le🔊一只yì zhī🔊狐狸húli🔊
Húli shuō nǐ bù gǎn chī wǒ tiāndì pài wǒ zuò bǎi shòu zhī wáng
狐狸Húli🔊shuō🔊🔊不敢bù gǎn🔊chī🔊🔊天帝tiāndì🔊派我pài wǒ🔊zuò🔊百兽之王bǎi shòu zhī wáng🔊
Nǐ gēn zài wǒ hòumiàn kànkan dòngwù men pà bú pà wǒ
🔊gēn🔊在我zài wǒ🔊后面hòumiàn🔊看看kànkan🔊动物们dòngwù men🔊怕不怕pà bú pà🔊🔊
Lǎohǔ gēnzhe húli zǒu dòngwù men dōu xià pǎo le
老虎Lǎohǔ🔊跟着gēnzhe🔊狐狸húli🔊zǒu🔊动物们dòngwù men🔊dōu🔊吓跑了xià pǎo le🔊
Qíshí dòngwù men pà de shì lǎohǔ bú shì húli
其实Qíshí🔊动物们dòngwù men🔊怕的pà de🔊shì🔊老虎lǎohǔ🔊不是bú shì🔊狐狸húli🔊
English Translation:
A tiger caught a fox. The fox said: "You dare not eat me. The Heavenly Emperor has sent me to be the king of all beasts. Follow behind me and see if the animals are afraid of me." The tiger followed the fox, and all the animals ran away in fear. Actually, the animals were afraid of the tiger, not the fox.

Key Vocabulary

狐假虎威
hú jiǎ hǔ wēi
fox borrowing tiger's might
狐狸
húli
fox
老虎
lǎohǔ
tiger
百兽之王
bǎi shòu zhī wáng
king of beasts
吓跑
xià pǎo
scare away
天帝
tiāndì
Heavenly Emperor

The Moral

Don't bully others using someone else's power! This idiom means using powerful connections to intimidate others.

Cultural Insight

狐假虎威 comes from "Strategies of the Warring States" (战国策).