📖 Meaning
To cup one's hands in a gesture of deference and surrender something to another person. It describes willingly or timidly giving up territory, rights, or advantages to someone else without resistance. The idiom conveys either cowardice in yielding to the strong or a fawning submission as a subordinate.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Republican-era novel 'A Popular History of the Republic of China' by Cai Dongfan and Xu Jinfu, in Chapter 41. The passage describes the situation surrounding Qingdao, where it was clear that the defenders were outnumbered and could not hold the city, yet the thought of surrendering it so meekly was deeply unbearable. The phrase captures the reluctance and frustration of having to give up something valuable without a fight, which resonated through China's modern history of territorial concessions.
💡 Example Usage
这片市场是我们辛苦打下的，怎能拱手让人？
We worked hard to build this market—how can we just hand it over to someone else?
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 拱手让人
- Pinyin: gǒng shǒu ràng rén
- Literal Translation: cup hands, yield, give to others
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4