📖 Meaning
To invite disaster and bring trouble upon oneself through reckless or meddlesome behavior. It describes a person who unnecessarily courts calamity by acting imprudently or stirring up matters best left alone.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Yuan dynasty playwright Gao Ming's famous drama 'The Lute' (琵琶记), specifically in the scene 'Niu Xiaojie Admonishes Her Father' (牛小姐谏父). In the dialogue, a character warns that persisting in a certain course will inevitably lead to ruin, saying 'you are inviting disaster and gathering misfortune.' The expression was later adopted in Ming dynasty literature, appearing in the novel 'Haoqiuzhuan' (好逑传) by an anonymous author, where bystanders avoid speaking out for fear of courting trouble themselves.
💡 Example Usage
他这样做无异于招灾揽祸，迟早要吃大亏。
By acting this way he is simply courting disaster, and sooner or later he will pay dearly for it.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 招灾揽祸
- Pinyin: zhāo zāi lǎn huò
- Literal Translation: beckon disaster, gather misfortune
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4