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河东狮吼

河東獅吼
hédōng-shīhǒu
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 the lioness from Hedong roars
  2. 2 (fig.) a shrewish wife throwing a tantrum
  3. 3 (fig.) a husband cowed by his wife

Examples

HSK 2
听说她又在家里河东狮吼了。
Tīngshuō tā yòu zàijiā lǐ hédōngshīhǒu le.
I hear she was raging at her husband at home again.
HSK 7-9
他一回家就遇上河东狮吼。
Tā yì huíjiā jiù yùshàng hédōngshīhǒu.
The moment he got home, his wife was on the warpath.

Tips

history
From Su Shi's poem to his friend Chen Jichang (陈季常), whose wife's surname was Liu - and Liu's clan came from Hedong. Su Shi teased: '忽闻河东狮子吼，拄杖落手心茫然' ('suddenly the Hedong lioness roars; his cane falls from his hand, his heart all blank'). Hedong + lion = the Buddhist 'lion's roar' (a fearsome sermon) plus the wife's home region.

In Pop Culture

河东狮吼 Hédōngshīhǒu
The Lion Roars (2002 film)
A Stephen Chow-produced Hong Kong comedy starring Louis Koo and Cecilia Cheung, retelling the Chen Jichang / Su Shi anecdote as a romcom - the source of the idiom's modern revival in pop culture.

Stroke Order

河 hé
东 dōng
狮 shī
吼 hǒu