📖 Meaning
Refers to imaginary monsters and terrifying illusions born from excessive fear, suspicion, and anxiety. It captures how a panicked mind conjures nightmares out of nothing, turning ordinary objects into perceived threats.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom fuses two classical allusions. '杯蛇' abbreviates '杯弓蛇影' — a story from the Han dynasty 'Fengsu Tongyi' where a guest mistook the reflection of a hanging bow in his wine cup for a snake and fell gravely ill from terror, recovering only when the truth was revealed. '鬼车' refers to the legendary nine-headed bird (鬼车鸟) in Chinese folklore, an ominous creature said to haunt battlefields and bring misfortune. The combined phrase appears in 'Water Margin' (水浒传) Chapter 95, describing how frightened soldiers, already on edge, began hallucinating monsters and dangers everywhere — 'when our troops are terrified, every cup holds a snake and every shadow hides a ghost-bird.'
💡 Example Usage
敌军人心惶惶，杯蛇鬼车，不战自溃。
The enemy troops were so gripped by panic, seeing monsters in every shadow, that they collapsed without even fighting.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 杯蛇鬼车
- Pinyin: bēi shé guǐ chē
- Literal Translation: cup, snake, ghost, chariot
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4