📖 Meaning
Having hair and teeth — that is, being a human being. The idiom is used to emphasize that a person, precisely because he has a human form, should live up to the name of a human by upholding conscience and moral duty. It is often invoked to spur oneself to act with integrity and responsibility.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Qing dynasty dramatist Hong Sheng's famous play 《长生殿》 (The Palace of Eternal Life), specifically the scene 骂贼 ('Reviling the Traitors'). In that scene, set during the An Lushan rebellion of the Tang dynasty, the court musician Lei Haiqing denounces the officials who surrendered to the rebels. He declares that if he does not shoulder the moral burden himself, he would be unworthy of being a human being — one who wears hair and has teeth. As long as the bonds of moral order (纲常) remain intact and he is worthy of his manhood, he says, he would gladly die nine times over. The phrase thus came to denote 'a human being' and stresses that one should live up to the moral standards expected of a person.
💡 Example Usage
我乃戴发含牙之人，岂能见死不救？
I am a human being with hair and teeth — how could I stand by and watch someone die without helping?
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 戴发含牙
- Pinyin: dài fā hán yá
- Literal Translation: wear hair, hold teeth
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4