📖 Meaning
To hold a weapon upside down, thereby handing the handle to someone else. It is a metaphor for giving an adversary the means to harm oneself through one's own careless actions. The idiom warns against placing power or weapons in the wrong hands.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the 'Book of Later Han' (后汉书), in the biography of He Jin. He Jin, a powerful official during the late Eastern Han dynasty, summoned regional warlords and their armies to the capital to deal with court eunuchs. A wise adviser warned that gathering such armed forces would only embolden the strong to seize power, likening it to holding a weapon upside down and handing the handle to others—ensuring failure and inviting chaos. The warning proved prophetic, as the ensuing power struggle plunged the court into turmoil.
💡 Example Usage
将兵权交予他人，无异于倒持干戈，自取祸患。
Handing military authority to others is no different from holding a weapon upside down—inviting disaster upon oneself.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 倒持干戈
- Pinyin: dǎo chí gān gē
- Literal Translation: inverted, hold, shield, spear
- Category: Leadership
- Characters: 4