暴虎馮河

Chinese

		sudden; violent; cruel sudden; violent; cruel; to show or expose; to injure	tiger	to wade	river
trad. (暴虎馮河)		暴	虎	馮	河
simp. (暴虎冯河)		暴	虎	冯	河
Literally: “to fight tiger bare-handed and wade rivers”.

Etymology

The earliest reference was attested in the Classic of Poetry, poem 195 (《詩經·小雅·小旻》), in the negative :

不敢暴虎，不敢馮河。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

不敢暴虎，不敢冯河。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Bùgǎn bàohǔ, bùgǎn pínghé. [Pinyin]

They dare not without weapons attack a tiger;
They dare not without a boat cross the He.

The literal meaning was also commented upon in the Erya, likely quoting from Kong Anguo's commentary on the Analects.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bàohǔ-pínghé

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄠˋ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄏㄜˊ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bàohǔ-pínghé
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄠˋ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄏㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bàohǔpínghé
    • Wade–Giles: pao⁴-hu³-pʻing²-ho²
    • Yale: bàu-hǔ-píng-hé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bawhuupyngher
    • Palladius: баохупинхэ (baoxupinxɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɑʊ̯⁵¹ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰiŋ³⁵ xɤ³⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: bawH xuX bing ha

Rime
Character	暴	虎	馮	河
Reading #	1/2	1/1	2/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	並 (3)	曉 (32)	並 (3)	匣 (33)
Final (韻)	豪 (89)	模 (23)	蒸 (133)	歌 (94)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I	III	I
Fanqie	薄報切	呼古切	扶冰切	胡歌切
Baxter	bawH	xuX	bing	ha
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/bɑuH/	/huoX/	/bɨŋ/	/ɦɑ/
Pan Wuyun	/bɑuH/	/huoX/	/bɨŋ/	/ɦɑ/
Shao Rongfen	/bɑuH/	/xoX/	/bieŋ/	/ɣɑ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/bawH/	/hɔX/	/biŋ/	/ɦa/
Li Rong	/bɑuH/	/xoX/	/biəŋ/	/ɣɑ/
Wang Li	/bɑuH/	/xuX/	/bĭəŋ/	/ɣɑ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/bʱɑuH/	/xuoX/	/bʱi̯əŋ/	/ɣɑ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bào	hǔ	píng	hé
Expected Cantonese Reflex	bou6	fu2	ping4	ho4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[b]ˤawk-s  qʰˤraʔ  [b]rəŋ  [C.ɡ]ˤaj/

  (Zhengzhang): /*boːwɢs  qʰlaːʔ  brɯŋ  ɡaːl/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	暴	虎	馮	馮	河
Reading #	1/2	1/1	1/3	2/3	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bào	hǔ	píng	píng	hé
Middle Chinese	‹ bawH ›	‹ xuX ›	‹ bing ›	‹ bing ›	‹ ha ›
Old Chinese	/*[b]ˁawk-s/	/*qʰˁraʔ/ (W dialect: *qˁʰr- >r̥ˁ- > x-)	/*[b]rəŋ/	/*[b]rəŋ/	/*[C.ɡ]ˁaj/
English	violent	tiger	full, solid	lean on	river
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	暴	虎	馮	河
Reading #	1/2	1/1	1/2	1/1
No.	330	5230	858	7459
Phonetic component	暴	虍	仌	可
Rime group	貌	魚	蒸	歌
Rime subdivision	3	0	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	暴	虎	凭	何
Old Chinese	/*boːwɢs/	/*qʰlaːʔ/	/*brɯŋ/	/*ɡaːl/

Idiom

暴虎馮河

1. (figurative) bull-headed heroism

   • 暴虎馮河，死而無悔者，吾不與也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     暴虎冯河，死而无悔者，吾不与也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Bàohǔpínghé, sǐ ér wúhuǐ zhě, wú bù yǔ yě. [Pinyin]

     He who will unarmed attack a tiger, or cross a river without a boat, dying without any regret, I would not have act with me.