📖 Meaning
The guest reverses roles and becomes the host. It metaphorically means turning a passive position into an active one, or a subordinate party seizing the leading role from the original master.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from Chapter 71 of the Ming Dynasty novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. In the story, a strategist describes a military tactic of advancing camp by camp and consolidating each position step by step, luring the enemy commander Xiahou Yuan into battle so he could be captured. This approach of turning the tables—transforming from the defending guest into the controlling host—was called the 'reverse guest to host' method (反客为主之法).
💡 Example Usage
他在谈判中反客为主，最终掌握了主动权。
He turned the tables in the negotiation and ultimately seized the initiative.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 反客为主
- Pinyin: fǎn kè wéi zhǔ
- Literal Translation: reverse, guest, become, host
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4