雞鳴狗盜

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See also: 鶏鳴狗盗

Chinese

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fowl; chicken to cry (of birds) dog
steal; rob; plunder
steal; rob; plunder; a thief; bandit; robber
 
trad. (雞鳴狗盜/鷄鳴狗盜) /
simp. (鸡鸣狗盗)
Literally: “to crow like a chicken and steal like a dog”.

Etymology

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From the story of Lord Mengchang (孟嘗君) escaping from King Zhao of Qin (秦昭王) with the help of his two retainers, one crowing like a chicken and the other disguising as a dog to sneak into the Qin palace to steal a white fur coat for the king's concubine:

此時千金天下無雙狗盜」。名姓出關夜半函谷關後悔使人雞鳴 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
此时千金天下无双狗盗」。名姓出关夜半函谷关后悔使人鸡鸣 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE
Cǐshí Mèngchángjūn yǒu yī húbái qiú, zhí qiānjīn, tiānxià wúshuāng, rù Qín xiàn zhī Zhāowáng, gèng wú tā qiú. Mèngchángjūn huàn zhī, biàn wèn kè, mò néng duì. Zuì xiàzuò yǒu néng wéi gǒudào zhě, yuē “chén néng dé húbái qiú”. Nǎi yè wéi gǒu, yǐ rù Qín gōng zāng zhōng, qǔ suǒxiàn húbái qiú zhì, yǐ xiàn Qínwáng xìng jī. Xìngjī wèi yán Zhāowáng, Zhāowáng shì Mèngchángjūn. Mèngchángjūn dé chū, jí chí qù, gēng fēngzhuàn, biàn míngxìng yǐ chūguān. Yèbàn zhì Hángǔguān. Qín Zhāowáng hòuhuǐ chū Mèngchángjūn, qiú zhī yǐ qù, jí shǐrén chí zhuàn zhú zhī. Mèngchángjūn zhì guān, guān fǎ, jīmíng ér chū kè, Mèngchángjūn kǒng zhuī zhì. Kè zhī jū xiàzuò zhě yǒu néng wéi míng, ér jī qí míng, suì fā zhuàn chū. [Pinyin]
At this time, Lord Mengchang once had an expensive and unique white fox-fur coat, and as he entered Qin, he offered it to king Zhao, who wanted no other fur. Mengchang was worried and asked his followers, but none could come up with a solution. The lowest-ranked of them, who could steal like a dog, says that he could get the fur coat back. That night, the thief disguised as a dog, entered the Qin royal treasury, stole the fur coat, and offered it to the king's favourite lady, who was able to persuade King Zhao to release Mengchang. Once he was released, Mengchang departed immediately, changed his identity, and faked his credentials in order to exit the frontier pass. At midnight, they reached the Hangu Pass. King Zhao of Qin regretted releasing Mengchang and attempted to find him, but he had escaped already. Thus, the King ordered his men to chase him on fast postal horses. Mengchang reached the Hangu Pass. By law, travellers were not allowed to exit the pass until morning when cocks cry. Mengchang was afraid that the soldiers would get him. One of his followers could imitate the cry like a cock. When he starts to cry, the cocks nearby all started to cry one after another. Then, Mengchang presented his fake credentials and exited the Hangu Pass.

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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雞鳴狗盜

  1. lowly skills; skills of little worth
  2. people with lowly skills
  3. base and despicable

Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (雞鳴狗盜):