坐山觀虎鬥
简 坐山观虎斗 · 繁 坐山觀虎鬥Meanings
- lit. sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight (idiom)
- fig. watch in safety whilst others fight then reap the rewards when both sides are exhausted
Characters in this entry
- 坐
- zuò · sit; seat; ride, travel by
- 山
- shān · mountain, hill, peak
- 觀
- Look up this written character
- 虎
- hǔ · tiger; brave, fierce; surname
- 鬥
- Look up this written character
- 观
- guān · see, observe, view; appearance
- 斗
- dòu · dǒu · a dipper; unit of volume (ten 升 or litres); Kangxi radical 68; 8th lunar mansion, determinative star φ Sagittarii
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Mandarin tones
4–1–1–3–4 · zuo4 shan1 guan1 hu3 dou4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
坐山觀虎鬥 · find source passages ↗ · 坐山观虎斗 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
co5 saan1 gun1 fu2 dau3
Cantonese word readings for 坐山觀虎鬥. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (figuratively) to watch in safety while others fight, then reaping the spoils when both sides suffer.
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack