📖 Meaning
Describes a person whose speech is as pleasant as a bird's song while their heart is as vicious as a wild beast's. It is used to condemn hypocrites whose sweet words conceal malicious and cruel intentions.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom stems from classical Chinese historiographical tradition, where officials critiqued treacherous courtiers who flattered rulers with elegant rhetoric while secretly plotting harm. The vivid contrast between a melodious bird and a ferocious beast draws on imagery long used in Chinese political writing to expose two-faced villainy. Though not tied to a single named anecdote, it reflects recurring warnings found across dynastic histories about sycophants at court. The phrase endures as a moral indictment of hypocrisy in both politics and everyday life.
💡 Example Usage
此人表面谦恭有礼，实则鸟声兽心，切不可轻信。
He seems modest and courteous on the surface, but his words are those of a bird and his heart that of a beast—one must not trust him lightly.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 鸟声兽心
- Pinyin: niǎo shēng shòu xīn
- Literal Translation: bird, voice, beast, heart
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4