淮南鸡犬
huái​nán​jī​quǎn

humble followers who gain power through their superior

  • created sense approved 淮南鸡犬/淮南雞犬 · huái​nán​jī​quǎn · humble followers who gain power through their superior — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    淮南鸡犬 / 淮南雞犬

    huái​nán​jī​quǎn

    humble followers who gain power through their superior

    (idiom) people who rise to power or success by clinging to a powerful figure. Originally referring to the legend of the King of Huainan, whose chickens and dogs supposedly also ascended to heaven after eating the remains of his elixir of immortality.

    淮南 (literal) → 淮南 · huái​nán · Huainan region 鸡 (literal) → 鸡/雞 · jī · chicken 犬 (literal) → 犬 · quǎn · dog

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

    created sense