竊鉤者誅,竊國者侯

简 窃钩者诛,窃国者侯 · 繁 竊鉤者誅,竊國者侯
Mandarin · pinyin qiè gōu zhě zhū , qiè guó zhě hóu

Meanings

  1. steal a hook and they hang you, steal the whole country and they make you a prince (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子 Zhuāng zǐ)
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Characters in this entry

竊
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鉤
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者
zhě · that which; he who; those who
誅
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國
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侯
hóu · marquis, lord; target in archery
窃
qiè · secretly, stealthily; steal; thief
钩
gōu · hook, barb; sickle; stroke with
诛
zhū · execute, kill, put to death; punish
国
guó · nation, country, nation-state
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竊鉤者誅,竊國者侯 · find source passages ↗ · 窃钩者诛,窃国者侯 · find source passages ↗

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竊鉤者誅,竊國者侯 · qie4 gou1 zhe3 zhu1 , qie4 guo2 zhe3 hou2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 82,530
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record竊鉤者誅,竊國者侯 窃钩者诛,窃国者侯 [qie4 gou1 zhe3 zhu1 , qie4 guo2 zhe3 hou2] /steal a hook and they hang you, steal the whole country and they make you a prince (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3])/