如履薄冰 rú lǚ bó bīng Walk on thin ice

Explanation

比喻做事非常小心谨慎，如同走在薄冰上，随时可能滑倒。

This idiom means to do something with extreme caution, as if walking on thin ice, where you could slip at any moment.

Origin Story

汉朝时期，有一位名叫马后的皇后，心地善良，对自己的亲人十分关爱。她的侄子马豫，仗着皇后的身份，常常仗势欺人，胡作非为。马后非常担心马豫会因为他的行为而招来祸患，所以她总是告诫马豫，做事要小心谨慎，不要惹事生非。马豫不以为然，认为自己有皇后的庇护，不会有什么危险。结果，马豫在一次宴会上，因为言语过失，触怒了皇帝，被贬出京城。马后得知此事，痛心疾首，后悔没有早点提醒马豫。她感叹地说：“做人做事，一定要如履薄冰，小心谨慎，才能平安无事。”从此以后，马豫也变得谨慎小心，不再犯下同样的错误。

hàn cháo shí qī, yǒu yī wèi jiào mǎ hòu de huáng hòu, xīn dì shàn liáng, duì zì jǐ de qīn rén shí fēn guān ài. tā de zhí zi mǎ yù, zhàng zhe huáng hòu de shēn fèn, cháng cháng zhàng shì qī rén, hú zuò fēi wéi. mǎ hòu fēi cháng dān xīn mǎ yù huì yīn wéi tā de xíng wéi ér zhāo lái huò huàn, suǒ yǐ tā zǒng shì gào jiè mǎ yù, zuò shì yào xiǎo xīn jǐn shèn, bù yào rě shì shēng fēi. mǎ yù bù yǐ wéi rán, rèn wéi zì jǐ yǒu huáng hòu de bì hù, bù huì yǒu shén me wēi xiǎn. jié guǒ, mǎ yù zài yī cì yàn huì shàng, yīn wéi yán yǔ guò shī, chù nù le huáng dì, bèi biǎn chū jīng chéng. mǎ hòu dé zhī cǐ shì, tòng xīn jí shǒu, hòu huǐ méi yǒu zǎo diǎn tí xíng mǎ yù. tā gǎn tàn dì shuō: “zuò rén zuò shì, yī dìng yào rú lǚ bó bīng, xiǎo xīn jǐn shèn, cái néng píng ān wú shì.” cóng cǐ yǐ hòu, mǎ yù yě biàn de jǐn shèn xiǎo xīn, bù zài fàn xià tóng yàng de cuò wù.

In the Han Dynasty, there was an empress named Ma who was kind-hearted and very caring towards her family. Her nephew Ma Yu, relying on his relationship with the empress, often behaved arrogantly and recklessly. Empress Ma was very worried that Ma Yu's actions would bring trouble to him, so she always warned him to be careful and cautious, not to make trouble. Ma Yu didn't take it seriously, thinking that he had the empress's protection and nothing dangerous would happen. As a result, at a banquet, Ma Yu offended the emperor with his words and was banished from the capital. When Empress Ma learned about this, she was heartbroken and regretted not warning Ma Yu sooner. She sighed, “When you live and do things, you must walk on thin ice, be careful and cautious, in order to be safe.” From then on, Ma Yu became cautious and stopped making the same mistakes.

Usage

用来形容做事非常小心谨慎，深怕出现差错，常用来比喻处境艰难，需要格外小心。

yòng lái xíng róng zuò shì fēi cháng xiǎo xīn jǐn shèn, shēn pà chū xiàn chā cuò, cháng yòng lái bǐ yù chǔ jìng jiān nán, xū yào gé wài xiǎo xīn.

Used to describe doing things very carefully and cautiously, for fear of making mistakes. Often used to describe a difficult situation where extra care is needed.

Examples

• 他做事一向如履薄冰，深怕犯错。

  tā zuò shì yī xiàng rú lǚ bó bīng, shēn pà fàn cuò.

  He has always been very cautious in his work, for fear of making mistakes.

• 改革开放初期，很多企业如履薄冰，小心翼翼地摸索前进。

  gǎi gé kāi fàng chū qī, hěn duō qǐ yè rú lǚ bó bīng, xiǎo xīn yì yì dì mō suǒ qián jìn

  In the early days of reform and opening up, many enterprises were on thin ice, carefully exploring their way forward.

Related Idioms

• 如临深渊

• 胆战心惊

Opposite Idioms

• 如履平地