兔死狗烹

Chinese

		rabbit	to die; impassable; uncrossable to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid	dog	cuisine; cooking
trad. (兔死狗烹)		兔	死	狗	烹
simp. #(兔死狗烹)		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:

蜚鳥盡，良弓藏；狡兔死，走狗烹。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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蜚鸟尽，良弓藏；狡兔死，走狗烹。 [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

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tùsǐgǒupēng

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄨˋ ㄙˇ ㄍㄡˇ ㄆㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tou³ sei² gau² paang¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tùsǐgǒupēng [Phonetic: tùsígǒupēng]
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄨˋ ㄙˇ ㄍㄡˇ ㄆㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tùsǐhgǒupeng
    • Wade–Giles: tʻu⁴-ssŭ³-kou³-pʻêng¹
    • Yale: tù-sž-gǒu-pēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tuhsyygooupeng
    • Palladius: тусыгоупэн (tusygoupɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰu⁵¹ sz̩²¹⁴⁻³⁵ koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰɤŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tou³ sei² gau² paang¹
    • Yale: tou séi gáu pāang
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tou³ sei² gau² paang¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: tou³ séi² geo² pang¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰou̯³³ sei̯³⁵ kɐu̯³⁵ pʰaːŋ⁵⁵/

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)