📖 Meaning
A metaphor for intense and fierce warfare. The image of a dragon battling in the water evokes chaos that terrifies even the surrounding fish. It describes violent, large-scale conflict.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom draws on vivid imagery of a dragon—a powerful mythical creature—warring in a body of water, causing the fish within to scatter in terror. The contrast between the dragon's immense destructive force and the fish's helplessness captures the chaos and ferocity of battle. No single classical text is cited as its definitive source; it functions as a poetic metaphor rooted in traditional dragon-and-water symbolism.
💡 Example Usage
两军交锋，龙战鱼骇，百姓纷纷逃离家园。
As the two armies clashed in fierce battle, the common people fled their homes in terror.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 龙战鱼骇
- Pinyin: lóng zhàn yú hài
- Literal Translation: dragon, fight, fish, frighten
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4