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殺雞儆猴

简杀鸡儆猴 · 繁殺雞儆猴

Mandarin · pinyin shā jī jǐng hóu

(lit.) to kill the chicken to warn the monkey (idiom)
(fig.) to punish an individual as an example to others

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Characters in this entry

殺: Look up this written character
雞: jī · chickens; domestic fowl
儆: jǐng · warn; warning
猴: hóu · monkey, ape; monkey-like
杀: shā · kill, slaughter, murder; hurt
鸡: jī · chicken

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–2 · sha1 ji1 jing3 hou2

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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.

殺雞儆猴 · find source passages ↗ · 杀鸡儆猴 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saat3 gai1 ging2 hau4

Cantonese word readings for 殺雞儆猴. 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

(figurative) to make a public demonstration of punishing a wrongdoer in order to deter innocents who might mimic the example of the wrongdoer

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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