杀鸡儆猴

殺雞儆猴

shājījǐnghóu

idiom

Meanings

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

Characters

Examples

老板开除了那个员工，明显是杀鸡儆猴。

Lǎobǎn kāichú le nàge yuángōng, míngxiǎn shì shā jī jǐng hóu.

The boss fired that employee, clearly to make an example of him.

政府重罚这家公司，就是要杀鸡儆猴。

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

杀 shā

鸡 jī

儆 jǐng

猴 hóu