杀鸡儆猴

殺雞儆猴
shājījǐnghóu
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 kill the chicken to scare the monkey
  2. 2 punish one to warn the many
  3. 3 make an example of someone

Examples

Lǎobǎn kāichú le nàge yuángōng, míngxiǎn shì shā jī jǐng hóu.
The boss fired that employee, clearly to make an example of him.
Zhèngfǔ zhòng fá zhè jiā gōngsī, jiùshì yào shā jī jǐng hóu.
The government heavily fined this company precisely to warn others.

Tips

culture
Based on the folk image of a monkey trainer killing a chicken in front of a disobedient monkey to scare it into obedience. Used in Chinese politics and management to describe deliberate public punishment.

Stroke Order

shā
jǐng
hóu