人為刀俎，我為魚肉
Chinese
| man; person; people | because of; for; to because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become |
butcher's knife and chopping block; oppressor; persecutor | I; me | because of; for; to because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become |
fish; flesh of fish; fish and meat | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (人為刀俎，我為魚肉) | 人 | 為 | 刀俎 | ， | 我 | 為 | 魚肉 | |
| simp. (人为刀俎，我为鱼肉) | 人 | 为 | 刀俎 | ， | 我 | 为 | 鱼肉 | |
| Literally: “to be the meat on somebody's chopping block”. | ||||||||
Etymology
From 《史記·項羽本紀》 (Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Xiang Yu).
- 如今人方為刀俎，我為魚肉，何辭為？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE
- Rújīn rén fāng wéi dāozǔ, wǒ wéi yúròu, hé cí wéi? [Pinyin]
- Now they are like the butcher's knife and chopping block, and we are like the fish and meat, what's the use of saying goodbye?
如今人方为刀俎，我为鱼肉，何辞为？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
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