📖 Meaning
When a hunted beast is cornered, it will overturn the hunter's cart. It is a metaphor for how a desperate person with no way out will take extreme risks. The idiom warns that pushing someone to the brink can lead to reckless and dangerous actions.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) by Sima Qian of the Han dynasty, in the biography of Gan Mao. During the Warring States period, the Korean envoy Gong Zhong sent Su Dai to speak with the Qin general Xiang Shou, quoting the saying 'a cornered beast overturns the cart.' Su Dai used this metaphor to caution Xiang Shou against pushing his enemy too hard, warning that a desperate foe would fight back recklessly and cause unexpected disaster.
💡 Example Usage
敌军已被围困多日，禽困覆车，不可逼之太甚。
The enemy has been besieged for days; a cornered beast overturns the cart, so we must not press them too hard.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 禽困覆车
- Pinyin: qín kùn fù chē
- Literal Translation: beast, trapped, overturn, cart
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4