一人得道，鸡犬升天 / 一人得道，雞犬升天

yī​rén​dé​dào​jī​quǎn​shēng​tiān

nepotism

when one person attains power, their cronies or family members follow suit; literal sense: when one person achieves immortality and ascends to heaven, even their chickens and dogs are taken along

一人 (literal) → 一人 · yī​rén · one person 得道 (literal) → 得道 · dé​dào · to become enlightened ， (non_chinese) 鸡犬升天 (literal) → 鸡犬升天/雞犬升天 · jī​quǎn​shēng​tiān · nepotism

Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:58 PM

一人得道，鸡犬升天 / 一人得道，雞犬升天

yī​rén​dé​dào​jī​quǎn​shēng​tiān

ride someone's coat-tails to success

When one person gains power or attains enlightenment, their relatives and followers also benefit; based on the legend of [[刘安|劉安|liu2 an1]] who became an immortal and took his pets to heaven with him

yì​rén​dé​dào​jī​quǎn​shēng​tiān

一 (literal) → 一 · yī · one 人 (literal) → 人 · rén · person 得 (literal) → 得 · dé · to get 道 (literal) → 道 · dào · Daoism ， (non_chinese) 鸡 (literal) → 鸡/雞 · jī · chicken 犬 (literal) → 犬 · quǎn · dog 升 (literal) → 升 · shēng · to rise 天 (literal) → 天 · tiān · sky

Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:57 PM