📖 Meaning
A tiger charging into a flock of sheep. It is a metaphor for a powerful force descending upon the weak and slaughtering them at will. The idiom conveys overwhelming, unstoppable dominance in a one-sided contest.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from Luo Guanzhong's Ming Dynasty novel 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,' Chapter 11. Kong Rong watched as Tai Shi Ci together with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei pursued and slaughtered the enemy troops, likening their devastating charge to a tiger entering a sheep pen, unstoppable in every direction. The vivid imagery of an apex predator among defenseless prey became a lasting metaphor for irresistible martial superiority.
💡 Example Usage
敌军如虎入羊群般冲入村庄，百姓四处逃散。
The enemy soldiers swept into the village like a tiger among a flock of sheep, and the villagers fled in all directions.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 虎入羊群
- Pinyin: hǔ rù yáng qún
- Literal Translation: tiger, enters, sheep, flock
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4