📖 Meaning
A metaphor for innocent people suffering harm as collateral damage. It describes a situation where someone is victimized through no fault of their own, caught up in troubles that originally had nothing to do with them. It is a variant of the idiom '殃及池鱼'.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom derives from the classical saying '城门失火，殃及池鱼' (When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the pond suffer). According to ancient legend, when a city gate burned down, water was drawn from a nearby pond to extinguish the flames, causing the pond to dry up and the fish to perish. '祸近池鱼' is a variant expression of this concept, emphasizing that disaster extends to the innocent bystanders. The story is recorded in the work '广韵' quoting the now-lost '风俗通' by Ying Shao of the Eastern Han dynasty.
💡 Example Usage
两家公司纠纷，小供应商却祸近池鱼，损失惨重。
The two companies were in dispute, yet a small supplier was caught in the crossfire and suffered heavy losses.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 祸近池鱼
- Pinyin: huò jìn shi yú
- Literal Translation: disaster, approach, pond, fish
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4