📖 Meaning
The idiom describes how poor or tyrannical governance drives the people to defect to an opposing side, just as otters drive fish into deep pools and hawks drive birds into thickets. It warns rulers that misrule alienates the populace and strengthens one's rivals. Here '爵' is an ancient variant of '雀', meaning sparrow or bird.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from 'Mencius: Li Lou I' (《孟子·离娄上》), composed during the Warring States period by Mencius and his disciples. Mencius observed that otters drive fish into deep pools, and hawks drive birds into thickets. By analogy, he argued that the tyrants Jie of Xia and Zhou of Shang, through their cruel rule, drove their own people to seek refuge with the virtuous kings Tang of Shang and Wu of Zhou. The character '爵' is an ancient variant of '雀', meaning sparrow or bird. The phrase thus serves as a warning that bad governance pushes subjects into the arms of one's enemies.
💡 Example Usage
暴政横行，无异于渊鱼丛爵，终将民心拱手让人。
Tyrannical rule is no different from driving fish into deep pools and birds into thickets, ultimately handing the people's hearts over to one's rivals.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 渊鱼丛爵
- Pinyin: yuān yú cóng què
- Literal Translation: deep pool, fish, thicket, sparrow
- Category: Leadership
- Characters: 4