DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

養虎為患

简养虎为患 · 繁養虎為患

Mandarin · pinyin yǎng hǔ wéi huàn

lit. to nurture a tiger invites calamity
fig. to indulge one's enemy is asking for trouble (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

養: yǎng · raise, rear, bring up; support
虎: hǔ · tiger; brave, fierce; surname
為: Look up this written character
患: huàn · suffer, worry about; suffering
养: yǎng · raise, rear, bring up; support
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–2–4 · yang3 hu3 wei2 huan4

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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.

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