to hold back from taking action against an evildoer for fear of involving good people(tóu shǔ jì qì)

to hold back from taking action against an evildoer for fear of involving good people

It means that you want to hit a mouse with something, but you are afraid that you will damage the nearby utensils. It means to have scruples and dare not let go.

It comes from the biography of Jia Yi in Hanshu.

Entry information

Idiom: throw a rat to avoid a weapon Pinyin: t ó ush ǔ J ì Q ì source: biography of Jia Yi in Hanshu: "there is a saying in Li:" if you want to throw a rat, you should avoid a weapon ", which is a good advice." synonyms: fearless, forward-looking Antonyms: fearless, unbridled

Idiom usage

Baoyu conceals the stolen goods, judges the unjust case, and pinger exercises power. Cao Xueqin's a dream of Red Mansions in the Qing Dynasty

Idiom story

Story 1 there was a rich man who liked antiques very much and collected a lot of them. One of them was a very rare antique called y ú, which was very popular among the rich because of its exquisite workmanship. One night, a mouse jumped into the jade bowl and wanted to eat the leftovers. It happened that the rich man saw it. He was very angry. In his anger, he took a stone and hit the mouse. Of course, the mouse was killed, but the precious jade bowl was also broken. The rich man was very sad. He deeply regretted his reckless behavior. This story was used by Jia Yi to prove his point. Jia Yi was born in Luoyang. He was young and talented. He was well-known at the age of 18. In his 20s, he was recommended by Wu Gong, the prefect of Henan Province, and was called as a doctor by Emperor Wen. What viewpoint does Jia Yi want to prove? It turned out that Zhou Bo, the prime minister at that time, had a fief. According to the regulations, when the Emperor gave the minister a fief, the minister should go to the fief, but Zhou Bo didn't go to his fief. At this time, someone accused Zhou Bo of conspiracy. Zhou Bo was caught in Chang'an and put into prison for investigation. Finally, it was found out that Zhou Bo had not conspired, so he regained his title. According to this, Jia Yi wrote a treatise on political affairs, suggesting that the emperor should not treat the crimes committed by princes and ministers as well as the common people. He should always cut his nose, toes and prick words on his face. Only in this way can he maintain the dignity of the emperor. Jia Yi's remarks are just opposite to our current saying that "all people are equal before the law", but he put forward such remarks sincerely for the good of the emperor. Jia Yi thinks that emperors, ministers and common people are like houses, stairs and floors. Why do houses look so big and magnificent? It's because there are stairs to separate the house from the ground. If there are no stairs, the house will not look so magnificent. Jia Yi put forward that "punishment can not be given to the superior doctor" because the superior doctor is very close to the emperor. If the officials and the common people are punished the same way, the authority of the emperor will be weakened. This is like beating a mouse. If the mouse is too close to the vessel, it will hurt the vessel. Isn't it a bit uneconomical? When you beat a mouse, you have to worry about utensils, not to mention punishing officials? Then, is there no need to punish ministers for breaking the law? That's not the case. If the ministers are at fault, the emperor can remove him or even kill him, but don't let the ministers be punished. In other words, the emperor's restraint of ministers should be based on etiquette rather than law. Blindly using it will lead to resentment. The fall of the Qin Dynasty is an obvious example. Jia Yi's remarks were deeply recognized by Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty. Since then, all ministers who are guilty commit suicide and will not be punished. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that more and more ministers were punished. Story 2 at the beginning of the Three Kingdoms, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty went hunting with Prime Minister Cao Cao and uncle Liu Bei. In order to show his power, Cao Cao went hand in hand with Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty. When Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty saw a rabbit not far away, he asked Liu Bei to shoot, saying that he wanted to see Uncle Huang's arrow technique. Liu Bei bent his bow to shoot an arrow and hit the rabbit. Emperor Xian praised his arrow technique. When Xiandi saw a big deer again, he shot three arrows in a row, so he told Cao Cao to shoot. Cao Cao took Xiandi's Jinbi arrow and hit the deer with one arrow. When the soldiers saw that the one who hit the deer was Jinbi arrow, they thought it was from Xiandi. They all cried "long live", and Cao Cao stood in front of Xiandi and cheered. Guan Yunchang really can't stand it. He wants to cut Cao Cao with a machete. Liu Bei suggests that he should not act rashly. Afterwards, Guan Yunchang asked Liu Bei why he didn't let him kill Cao Cao. He said, "there's a sacrificial emperor around him

Chinese PinYin : tóu shǔ jì qì