拱手让人

Recorded in Cai Dongfan and Xu Jinfu's 《民国通俗演义》 (Popular Romance of the Republican Era), describing the bind of being unable to defend Qingdao yet unwilling to surrender it. 拱手, clasping the hands together in a respectful bow, paints the image of giving something up so politely you might as well be presenting it as a gift.

Picture someone bowing with hands clasped (拱手) while passively letting (让) something slip to another (人). Always carries a tone of regret or accusation, never neutral.