give sb. the chance to make the best of his abilities(fàng lóng rù hǎi)

give sb. the chance to make the best of his abilities

Let the Dragon go into the sea, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is f à n à L ó n à R à h à I, which means to let the enemy go and leave trouble behind. From the romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The origin of Idioms

Chapter 21 of romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong of Ming Dynasty: "if you let the Dragon go into the sea, even if the tiger returns to the mountain, can you get it if you want to cure it later?"

Idiom usage

Verb object type; predicate, attribute, object; derogatory.

Idiom story

In the 33rd year of Duke mu of Qin Dynasty, relying on his strong national strength, Qin sent three generals, Meng Mingshi, Xi Qishu and Bai Yibing, to attack Zheng. On the way back to the division, he was defeated and captured by the army led by the general of Jin. Duke Xiang of Jin planned to kill Meng Mingshi and his three men. Wen Ying, the stepmother of Jin Xianggong, heard about this. She decided to rescue the general of Qin state from her mother's family. She said to Jin Xianggong, "the state of Qin and the royal family of Jin have in laws. The two countries have a close relationship. It's better to put them back to Qin State and let Qin Mu Gong deal with them. In this way, the peace between the two countries will not be hurt." Jin Xianggong didn't listen, so Wen Ying continued to persuade him: "in those years, Cheng Dechen of Chu was defeated, and he was killed by the king of Chu after he returned home. Of course, the state of Qin also had the military law to deal with the defeated generals. Besides, Huigong, our former monarch, was also arrested by the state of Qin. Instead of killing him, the monarch of the state of Qin treated him with courtesy and sent him back to the state of Jin. The state of Qin is so polite to us. If we have to kill these three people, isn't it too unfriendly "? Duke Xiang of Jin is very filial to his stepmother, and she makes sense, so he let Meng Ming go. When he heard the news, Xianfu was eating. He immediately put down his job and went to see Duke Xianggong in anger. Seeing Xianggong, he asked where the prisoners were. Xianggong replied, "my mother asked me to let them go. She said that the state of Qin would deal with them, so I let them go according to my mother's orders." After listening to this, he trembled with anger. He pointed to Xianggong and scolded him in a loud voice: "how can you be so confused, you little boy? The general of Qin whom we have worked so hard to catch, you just listen to the woman's words and let go. You are "letting the Dragon go into the sea" and you will regret it sooner or later After hearing what Xianfu said, Duke Xiang of Jin suddenly woke up and immediately sent someone to chase Meng Mingshi, but they had already escaped. after Meng Mingshi returned to China, Qin Mugong did not punish them, but continued to use them. This made them feel grateful, but also more determined to avenge the Jin. After three years, they finally defeated the state of Jin and made the state of Qin the overlord of the West. At this time, Jin Xianggong was too late to repent.

Chinese PinYin : fàng lóng rù hǎi