A hundred footed insect is not stiff until death(bǎi zú zhī chóng，zhì sǐ bù jiāng)

A hundred footed insect is not stiff until death

A hundred legged insect is not rigid until death. It is read as B ǎ iz ú zh ī ch ó ng, zh ì s ǐ B ù Ji ā ng. It is used to describe a powerful collective or individual that is not easy to collapse at a time. Baizu: the name of the insect, with a trunk of 20 segments, can still wriggle after being cut off. Stiff: the limbs are stiff and unable to move. It is often used as a clause to describe a powerful group or individual that is not easy to collapse at a time. It can be seen from the treatise on the Six Dynasties by Wei Cao of the Three Kingdoms: "a hundred legged insect is not rigid when it dies, so it is necessary to help others." Baizu is the name of the insect, also known as Ma Lu or Ma Yu. It is about an inch long and has more than 30 links. It can still wriggle after being cut off.

The origin of Idioms

[source] in the treatise on the Six Dynasties by Cao Peng of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Dynasty: "it is said that a hundred legged insect will not die until it is dead.". Although this is a small statement, it can be compared to a big one. " [example] Volume 29 of Ling Mengchu's the surprise of making a case at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty: "you Dao is a hundred legged insect. Until you die, you don't get stiff and you don't fall for a long time. In a twinkling of an eye, you will be a high-ranking official, and you will still be expensive."

A brief analysis of Idioms

[brief analysis] a hundred legged insect, dead but not stiff: originally, it refers to the phenomenon that the insect, Malu, is still wriggling after being cut off to death (compendium of Materia Medica · Malu): Hongjing said: "there are so many insects, so it's easy to break them every inch. So "Lu Lianzi" said: "a hundred legged insect, dead but not rigid" '). It is used to describe that although people or groups have failed, their influence and influence still exist. "A hundred legged insect, dead but not stiff" some people explain that insects with many legs are not stiff when they die. This explanation is not accurate. "a hundred legged insect" does not mean in general, but in particular. "Baizu", also known as "Malu", is a kind of arthropod with 20 segments of trunk, one pair of walking limbs in each of the 2-4 segments, and two pairs of walking feet from the 5th segment. Live in a damp place. "Zhi" here means the demonstrative pronouns "zhe" and "zhe". A hundred foot insect is a hundred foot insect. "Dead but not stiff" does not mean "dead but not stiff". Both modern Chinese dictionary and Cihai take "a hundred legged insect, dead but not rigid" as an example sentence under the meaning of "rigid", which shows that "rigid" in the sentence is understood as "rigid"; but from the etymology and meaning, it seems inappropriate. "A hundred legged insect is not rigid until it dies" comes from the theory of Six Dynasties written by the head of state Cao of the Wei Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms: "so it is said that" a hundred legged insect is not rigid until it dies ", and the people who support it are the same." "Stiff" here should mean "fall down" and "fall down", but not "stiff". Because "helping others" has no causal relationship with "not rigid", but has causal relationship with "not falling". The biography of Su Qin in historical records: "the detailed (feint) is stiff and the wine is abandoned." "Sui Hong Zhuan" in Hanshu: "the dead willows rise again." The "stiff" in these sentences means "fall down" and "fall down". In a word, the whole sentence of "a hundred legged insect, dead but not stiff" should mean: a hundred legged insect, even if dead, will not fall down. It means that although a person or group loses power, there is still some momentum and energy. It will not collapse immediately.

allusion

The story takes place during the Three Kingdoms period. There was a wise man in the state of Wei named Cao Fen. At the beginning of the Wei Dynasty, there was an urgent need to stabilize the overall situation and consolidate the ruling power, which was an urgent need to do now. For this reason, Cao Peng went up to the Wei King Cao Cao and said, "so the saying goes:" a hundred legged insect is not stiff until he dies. " What he means is that there is an old saying that there is a kind of insect with 100 feet, which will not be stiff for a long time after it dies. This is because there are many channels to support it. Cao's purpose of quoting this old saying is to advise Cao Cao to make great use of his cronies, support his own power, and attract talents for our own use. Only in this way can he consolidate his rule. Later, people extended "a hundred legged insect, dead but not stiff" as an idiom, which is used to refer to the reactionary or hostile forces that have been overthrown or suppressed. The remaining evils still exist. If they are not thoroughly eliminated, they will make waves. It is of great pertinence and practical significance.

Chinese PinYin : bǎi zú zhī chóng，zhì sǐ bù jiāng