惊弓之鸟

Pronunciation: jīng gōng zhī niǎo Literal meaning: Frightened bird of a bow

Origin & Usage

This idiom, 惊弓之鸟 (jīng gōng zhī niǎo), originates from a story in the Warring States period, found in the text 《战国策》 (Zhàn Guó Cè). The tale involves a skilled archer named 更羸 (Gèng Léng) who, while with the King of Wei, claimed he could bring down a bird with just the sound of a bowstring. When a wounded bird flew by, 更羸 pulled the bowstring without an arrow, and the bird fell, frightened by the sound due to its previous injury. The characters break down as follows: 惊 (jīng, frightened), 弓 (gōng, bow), 之 (zhī, of), 鸟 (niǎo, bird). In modern usage, this idiom describes someone who is easily frightened or overly cautious due to past trauma or negative experiences.

Examples

English: "After the incident, he became very jumpy and anxious."

Chinese: 事件发生后，他变得像惊弓之鸟一样，十分紧张。