📖 Meaning
Using a cat as bait to catch mice — an absurd approach because the cat would eat the mice rather than lure them. It describes a method that is fundamentally self-defeating and doomed to fail from the start.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom comes from The Book of Lord Shang (《商君书·农战》), a Legalist text by Shang Yang (商鞅), the renowned statesman of the Qin state during the Warring States period. In the chapter "Agriculture and War," Shang Yang argues that seeking official promotion through flattery and personal connections, rather than offering tangible value or merit, is as futile as trying to lure mice with a cat as bait — the outcome is certain failure. The metaphor underscores the absurdity of using a means that inherently contradicts the desired end.
💡 Example Usage
他想用这种手段解决问题，无异于以狸饵鼠，根本行不通。
Trying to solve the problem with such a method is no different from using a cat as bait to catch mice — it simply won't work.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 以狸饵鼠
- Pinyin: yǐ lǐ ěr shǔ
- Literal Translation: with, cat, bait, mouse
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4