My sister-in-law drowns my uncle(sǎo nì shū yuán)

My sister-in-law drowns my uncle

Shuyuan is a Chinese idiom. Pinyin is s ǎ on ì sh ū Yu á n, which means that the metaphor can be changed according to the actual situation. It's from Mencius · Li Lou Shang.

The origin of Idioms

In Mencius, Li loushang: "if a man and a woman give or receive no love, it is polite; if a sister-in-law drowns, it is right to help him."

Idiom usage

Used as an object or attribute; used in writing. Example: the emperor said, "is it polite for the son to sit and the father to stand?" He said to them, "if you drown your sister-in-law and your uncle, you will have power." Jiang Yikui's Chang'an Hakka in Ming Dynasty

Idiom story

During the Warring States period, Chunyu Kun, an orator of the state of Qi, asked Mencius whether it was a rite for men and women not to accept things by hand? Mencius said it was ceremony. Chunyu Kun then asked if his sister-in-law fell into the water. Should his brother-in-law help him? Mencius thought that we should go to rescue. It's a gift not to pass things by hand, but it's an expedient measure to rescue people by hand. Chunyu Kun also said that people all over the world fall into the water. Why don't you go to rescue them? Mencius replied that we should use Tao to save, not hand to save.

Chinese PinYin : sǎo nì shū yuán