Chinese Idioms with Tiger

As explained in Einstein100102's excellent blog on Chinese New Year, the Year of Tiger started on February 1st this year and the celebration finishes on February 15th with the Lantern Festival, marking the first full moon of the year. Tiger represents strength, fierceness and cruelty in Chinese. I did a Google search and there are hundreds of idioms related to tiger. Most of these are self-explanatory, and here are some of the most common ones.

臥虎藏龍 (lit.) crouching tiger and hidden dragon

This is probably the most well known idiom thanks to Ang Lee's movie. It means a place full of hidden dangers.

狼吞虎咽 (lit.) wolf swallows and tiger gulps

A figurative way to describe gulping and eating too quickly.

虎視眈眈 (lit.) tiger watches and stares

A tiger eyeing on its prey.

九牛二虎之力 (lit.) power of nine oxen and two tigers

Spending a huge amount of effort in doing something.

送羊入虎口 (lit.) sending sheep to a tiger's mouth

Sending someone to certain danger and death.

虎背熊腰 (lit.) tiger's back and bear's waist

This describes a person with a large and strong body; or nowadays when used on women, mocking her being fat.

虎頭蛇尾 (lit.) tiger's head and snake's tail

Something with an impressive start but a lousy finish.

如虎添翼 (lit.) like a tiger with added wings

This describes a capable person getting additional tools or help.

虎父無犬子 (lit.) tiger father has no dog son

A strong and powerful father would have a capable son too.

虎毒不食子 (lit.) a sinister tiger does not eat its cub

No matter how evil a person is, he would not harm his own children.

狐假虎威 (lit.) a fox under the guise of a tiger's power

The fable goes like this: a fox said to a tiger "I am the most fearsome animal in the world. If you don't believe me, accompany me to see if other animals are afraid of me."
This is a pejorative term describing someone who abuses his power because he is close to another powerful person.

笑面虎 (lit.) smiling face tiger

A sly person who looks kind and friendly on the outside.

與虎謀皮 (lit.) asking a tiger for its skin

This is to describe a situation that is doomed due to conflict of interests. For example, asking Putin to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border.

調虎離山 (lit.) move tiger out of the mountain

This is one of the most famous military strategies by tricking your enemy to move out of position in order to attack. For example, by drawing US troops to Ukraine, China can then attack Taiwan.

一山不能藏二虎 (lit.) one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers

This describes situations such as infighting between two bosses within a company. This can also be used to describe the US-China conflicts.

虎落平陽被犬欺 (lit.) tiger travels down to the plain and bullied by dogs

The full sentence starts with "dragon swims down to shallow water and teased by shrimps". This describes strong people or team being disadvantaged when outside their home ground. For example, US troops in Afghanistan.

初生之犢不畏虎 (lit.) new born calf not afraid of tiger

This is to describe the young and fearless.

上得山多終遇虎 (lit.) up a mountain too often and finally meet a tiger

If one takes too many risks, accident will eventually happen.

不入虎穴，焉得虎子？ (lit.) without entering the tiger's cave, how to get the tiger cub?

It is impossible to get rewarded without taking risk.

So these are some of the most common Chinese idioms involving tiger. I hope you learned something in this blog, and have a happy Year of Tiger.