擒贼擒王

Pronunciation: qín zéi qín wáng Literal meaning: Capture thief capture king

Origin & Usage

The idiom 擒贼擒王 (qín zéi qín wáng) originates from a line in the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu's work, which states, '射人先射马，擒贼先擒王' (shè rén xiān shè mǎ, qín zéi xiān qín wáng), meaning 'shoot the horse before the man, capture the king before the thief.' This line was later encapsulated into the idiom. The historical context involves the An Lushan Rebellion during the Tang dynasty, where the general Zhang Xun aimed to capture the enemy leader Yinzhiqi to turn the tide of battle. The idiom breaks down to 擒 (qín, capture), 贼 (zéi, thief), 擒 (qín, capture), 王 (wáng, king). In modern usage, it suggests that to solve a problem effectively, one should target the root cause or the main figure, akin to the saying 'cut off the head and the body will fall.'

Examples

English: "To resolve the conflict, they targeted the leader rather than the followers."

Chinese: 为了解决冲突，他们的目标是领导者而不是追随者。