五马分尸 wǔ mǎ fēn shī five horses split the body

Explanation

五马分尸是一种古代残酷的刑罚，用五匹马将犯人的头和四肢拉扯开来。现在比喻把完整的东西分割得非常零碎，或者把事情处理得支离破碎。

Five horses split the body is an ancient cruel punishment, using five horses to pull the prisoner's head and limbs apart. Now it is used metaphorically to describe things that are completely fragmented or things that are handled in a fragmented way.

Origin Story

战国时期，有个名叫田单的将军，率领齐国军队与燕国军队作战。燕国将军秦开率领军队进攻齐国，田单率领军队抵抗，双方激战数日，最终燕军取得了胜利，田单被俘。燕王喜得知田单被俘，大喜过望，下令将田单五马分尸。燕王喜想要以此来震慑齐国，让齐国百姓不敢再反抗。然而，燕国士兵在行刑的时候，却发现田单的身体太强壮了，五匹马根本无法拉扯他的身体。于是，燕王喜下令将田单的四肢砍断，然后再用五匹马拉扯他的身体。田单最终被五马分尸，死状极其惨烈。

zhàn guó shí qī, yǒu gè míng jiào tián dān de jiāng jūn, shuài lǐng qí guó jūn duì yǔ yàn guó jūn duì zhàn zhàn. yàn guó jiāng jūn qín kāi shuài lǐng jūn duì jìn gōng qí guó, tián dān shuài lǐng jūn duì dǐ kàng, liǎng fāng jī zhàn shù rì, zuì zhōng yàn jūn qǔ dé le shèng lì, tián dān bèi fǔ. yàn wáng xǐ dé zhī tián dān bèi fǔ, dà xǐ guò wàng, xià lìng jiāng tián dān wǔ mǎ fēn shī. yàn wáng xǐ xiǎng yào yǐ cǐ lái zhèn shè qí guó, ràng qí guó bǎi xìng bù gǎn zài fǎn kàng. rán ér, yàn guó bīng shì zài xíng xíng de shí hòu, què fā xiàn tián dān de shēn tǐ tài qiáng zhuàng le, wǔ pǐ mǎ gēn běn wú fǎ lā chě tā de shēn tǐ. yú shì, yàn wáng xǐ xià lìng jiāng tián dān de sì zhī kǎn duàn, rán hòu zài yòng wǔ pǐ mǎ lā chě tā de shēn tǐ. tián dān zuì zhōng bèi wǔ mǎ fēn shī, sǐ zhuàng jí qí cǎn liè.

During the Warring States period, there was a general named Tian Dan who led the army of the State of Qi to fight against the army of the State of Yan. The general Qin Kai of Yan led his army to attack Qi, Tian Dan led his army to resist, both sides fought for several days, finally the Yan army won, Tian Dan was captured. King Xi of Yan was overjoyed to learn that Tian Dan had been captured, and ordered Tian Dan to be split by five horses. King Xi wanted to use this to intimidate the people of Qi and prevent them from rebelling. However, when the Yan soldiers were carrying out the execution, they found that Tian Dan's body was too strong and five horses could not pull his body apart. So King Xi ordered Tian Dan's limbs to be cut off and then his body to be pulled apart by five horses. Tian Dan was eventually split by five horses, his death was extremely tragic.

Usage

这个成语多用于比喻把完整的事物或整体分割得支离破碎，或把问题处理得乱七八糟。

zhè ge chéng yǔ duō yòng yú bǐ yù bǎ wán zhěng de shì wù huò zhěng tǐ fēn gē duó zhī lí pò suì, huò bǎ wèn tí chǔ lǐ de luàn qī bā zāo.

This idiom is often used to describe things that are completely fragmented or things that are handled in a fragmented way.

Examples

• 他总是把问题简单化，把复杂的事情弄得五马分尸，令人头疼。

  tā zǒng shì bǎ wèn tí jiǎn dān huà, bǎ fú zá de shì qíng nòng de wǔ mǎ fēn shī, lìng rén tóu téng.

  He always simplifies the problem, making complicated things like five horses split the body, making people headache.

• 这次的方案被领导五马分尸地批评，每个人都感到压力很大。

  zhè cì de fāng àn bèi lǐng dǎo wǔ mǎ fēn shī de pī píng, měi gè rén dōu gǎn dào yā lì hěn dà

  This plan was criticized by the leader with five horses splitting the body, and everyone felt a lot of pressure.

Related Idioms

• 酷刑

• 凌迟

• 车裂

• 刑罚

• 残忍

Opposite Idioms

• 完整

• 完整

• 完整

• 完整

• 完整

• 完全

• 완전

• completo

• íntegro

• intacto

• entier

• ganz