窮鼠齧狸

Chinese

		exhausted; poor	rat; mouse	surname; gnaw	(dog); wild 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):

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): /t͡ɕʰjʊŋ³⁵ ʂu²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ njɛ⁵¹ li³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - 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 ʃyː³⁵ jiːt̚² lei̯²¹/, /kʰʊŋ²¹ ʃyː³⁵ ŋiːt̚² lei̯²¹/, /kʰʊŋ²¹ ʃyː³⁵ ŋaːt̚² lei̯²¹/

Idiom

窮鼠齧狸

(figuratively) 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)