敲山震虎 knock the mountain to shake the tiger
Explanation
比喻故意显示实力或采取某种行动，警告对方，使对方有所震动，有所收敛。
It is a metaphor, deliberately showing strength or taking certain actions to warn the other party and make them feel the shock.
Origin Story
从前，在一个山清水秀的地方，住着一群猴子。猴王非常残暴，经常欺压其他的猴子。有一天，猴王又开始作恶了，他把一只小猴子的香蕉抢走了。这只小猴子很害怕，不敢反抗。这时，一只老猴子看不下去了，它走到猴王面前，轻轻地敲了敲山，发出很大的声响，猴王被吓了一跳，赶紧把香蕉还给了小猴子。从此以后，猴王再也不敢欺压其他猴子了。
Once upon a time, in a place with clear water and beautiful mountains, there lived a group of monkeys. The monkey king was very brutal and often oppressed the other monkeys. One day, the monkey king did evil again; he stole a small monkey's banana. This little monkey was very afraid and dared not resist. At this moment, an old monkey couldn't stand it anymore, it walked to the monkey king and gently knocked on the mountain, making a loud noise. The monkey king was startled and quickly returned the banana to the little monkey. From that day on, the monkey king dared not oppress other monkeys anymore.
Usage
用于比喻故意显示实力或采取某种行动，警告对方，使对方有所震动，有所收敛。
Used to illustrate that one deliberately shows strength or takes certain actions to warn the other party, causing the other party to tremble and converge.
Examples
-
邻国入侵，大国先派兵骚扰边境，以敲山震虎，迫使邻国退兵。
lín guó rùqīn, dà guó xiān pài bīng sāorǎo biānjìng, yǐ qiāo shān zhèn hǔ, pò shǐ lín guó tuìbīng
A neighboring country invaded, and the great power first sent troops to harass the border, in order to act as a warning and force the neighboring country to retreat.
-
公司老板故意裁员一部分，以此敲山震虎，警告其他员工要更加努力工作。
gōngsī lǎobǎn gùyì cáiyuán yī bùfèn, yǐ cǐ qiāo shān zhèn hǔ, jǐnggào qítā yuángōng yào gèngjiā nǔlì gōngzuò
The company boss deliberately laid off some employees to warn other employees to work harder..