📖 Meaning
A metaphor for petty and wicked people making a clamor and throwing their weight around. The image is of foxes howling and owls screeching at night, an unpleasant chorus of unwelcome creatures. It describes a scene where sycophants and scoundrels are arrogant and noisy, usually jostling for power or office.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Tang dynasty poet Han Yu's poem 'Yongzhen Xing' (《永贞行》), written about the political upheaval of the Yongzhen era in 805 AD. In that year Emperor Shunzong briefly reigned while the officials Wang Shuwen and Wang Pi, joined by Liu Zongyuan and Liu Yuxi, seized power and pushed through a short-lived reform. Han Yu, who disapproved of the faction, used the line '狐鸣枭噪争署置' to describe the scene at court, likening the reformists' followers to foxes and owls noisily scrambling for official appointments. The phrase later became a stock description of wicked cliques clamoring for power.
💡 Example Usage
奸佞当道，狐鸣枭噪，满朝忠臣皆被贬斥。
With scoundrels in power clamoring like foxes and owls, every loyal minister at court was driven out.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 狐鸣枭噪
- Pinyin: hú míng xiāo zào
- Literal Translation: fox, howl, owl, clamor
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4