养虎遗患 yǎng hǔ yí huàn Raise a tiger to leave future trouble

Explanation

比喻包庇坏人坏事，留下后患。

It means that if you protect villains or bad things, you will have future problems.

Origin Story

话说秦朝末年，楚汉相争，项羽在巨鹿之战中大败秦军主力，随后又攻破咸阳，灭掉了秦朝。然而，项羽却犯了一个致命的错误——他并没有乘胜追击，彻底消灭刘邦，而是与刘邦在鸿沟划界停战，让刘邦得以休养生息。张良和陈平看出了其中的危险，他们规劝刘邦说：“项羽实力雄厚，现在不趁机消灭他，将来必成大患！”刘邦采纳了他们的建议，暗中调兵遣将，最终战胜了项羽，结束了楚汉战争。这便是“养虎遗患”的真实写照。项羽的仁慈与优柔寡断，最终让他失去了江山。如果他当初能痛下杀手，彻底消灭刘邦，那么历史或许就会改写。然而，他却放虎归山，留下了巨大的后患，最终导致了自己的灭亡。

huà shuō qín cháo mò nián, chǔ hàn xiāng zhēng, xiàng yǔ zài jù lù zhī zhàn zhōng dà bài qín jūn zhǔ lì, suí hòu yòu gōng pò xián yáng, miè diào le qín cháo. rán ér, xiàng yǔ què fàn le yīgè zhì mìng de cuò wù——tā bìng méi yǒu chéng shèng zhuī jī, chèdǐ miè xiāo liú bāng, ér shì yǔ liú bāng zài hóng gōu huà jiè tíng zhàn, ràng liú bāng dé yǐ xiū yǎng shēng xī. zhāng liáng hé chén píng kàn chū le qí zhōng de wēi xiǎn, tāmen guī quàn liú bāng shuō: “xiàng yǔ shí lì xióng hòu, xiànzài bù chèn jī miè xiāo tā, jiāng lái bì chéng dà huàn!” liú bāng cǎi nà le tāmen de jiàn yì, àn zhōng diào bīng qiǎn jiàng, zuì zhōng zhàn shèng le xiàng yǔ, jié shù le chǔ hàn zhàn zhēng. zhè biàn shì “yǎng hǔ yí huàn” de zhēn shí xiě zhào. xiàng yǔ de rén cí yǔ yōu róu guǎ duàn, zuì zhōng ràng tā shī qù le jiāng shān. rú guǒ tā dāng chū néng tòng xià shā shǒu, chèdǐ miè xiāo liú bāng, nà me lì shǐ huò xǔ jiù huì gǎi xiě. rán ér, tā què fàng hǔ guī shān, liú xià le jù dà de hòu huàn, zuì zhōng dǎo zhì le zì jǐ de miè wáng.

In the late years of the Qin Dynasty, Chu and Han fought each other. Xiang Yu defeated the main forces of Qin in the Battle of Julu, and then captured Xianyang and destroyed the Qin Dynasty. However, Xiang Yu made a fatal mistake - he did not pursue his victory and completely eliminate Liu Bang. Instead, he made a truce with Liu Bang at the Honggou border, allowing Liu Bang to recuperate. Zhang Liang and Chen Ping saw the danger and advised Liu Bang: "Xiang Yu is powerful. If we don't seize the opportunity to eliminate him now, he will surely become a major threat in the future!" Liu Bang followed their advice, secretly mobilized troops, and finally defeated Xiang Yu, ending the Chu-Han War. This is a true reflection of "Raising a tiger will cause future problems". Xiang Yu's kindness and indecision ultimately caused him to lose his empire. If he had made a decisive move and completely eliminated Liu Bang at that time, history might have been rewritten. However, he let the tiger return to the mountain, leaving a huge hidden danger, which ultimately led to his own demise.

Usage

用于比喻纵容坏人坏事，留下后患。

yòng yú bǐ yù zòng róng huài rén huài shì, liú xià hòu huàn

Used to illustrate condoning villains and bad things, which will cause future problems.

Examples

• 养虎遗患，后患无穷。

  yǎng hǔ yí huàn, hòu huàn wú qióng

  Raising a tiger will bring future troubles.

• 我们不能养虎遗患，要及时解决问题。

  wǒmen bù néng yǎng hǔ yí huàn, yào jíshí jiějué wèntí

  We cannot raise tigers, we must solve problems in time.

Related Idioms

• 养痈贻患

• 放虎归山

• 后患无穷

Opposite Idioms

• 除恶务尽

• 斩草除根