1 day ago

Podcasts 杀鸡儆猴 (shā jī jǐng hóu): to kill a chicken to warn the monkey 威 (wēi): authority awe power 杀一儆百 (shā yī jǐng bǎi): kill one to warn a hundred 可牺牲 (kě xīshēng): expendable sacrificable 工具道德 (gōngjù dàodé): instrumental morality 文化记忆 (wénhuà jìyì): cultural memory 救鸡启猴 (jiù jī qǐ hóu): “save the chicken to enlighten the monkey” —

What Does “Killing the chicken to scare the monkey” (杀鸡儆猴) Really Mean?
The Dark Wisdom Behind a Chinese Idiom.
Welcome to Chinese for a Kinder World, the podcast where we explore the deep meanings hidden inside the Chinese language. And what they can teach us about compassion, power, and change.
Today’s journey takes us into a proverb that sounds almost like a fable, but carries a chilling logic:
杀鸡儆猴 “to kill the chicken to warn the monkey.”

Time Codes
00:00 - Killing the Chicken
00:56 - PART ONE: THE STORY BEHIND THE WORDS
02:21 - PART TWO: THE LOGIC OF FEAR
03:24 - PART THREE: POLITICAL AND CULTURAL USAGE
04:28 - PART FOUR: REFLECTING ON THE ANIMAL IMAGERY
05:25 - PART FIVE: COMPASSIONATE REINTERPRETATION
06:27 - PART SIX: LINGUISTIC AND ETHICAL LESSONS

At first hearing, it’s startling.
Why kill a chicken? Why warn a monkey? And why has this idiom endured for over a thousand years in Chinese political and moral thought?
Today, we’ll unpack the story behind these four characters, explore how they’ve been used in history and modern society — and ask a question few dare to ask:
What does this ancient phrase reveal about how we humans learn… through fear?
PART ONE: THE STORY BEHIND THE WORDS
Let’s begin with the literal meaning.
杀 means “to kill”
鸡 is “chicken”
儆 means “to warn, to admonish.”
And 猴 “the monkey”
Together: *to kill a chicken in order to warn the monkey.*
The idiom comes from an old story recorded in the《左传》 and later retold in the《封神演义》 and various moral tales.
“Often translated as The Zuo Tradition or as The Commentary of Zuo, is an ancient Chinese narrative history traditionally regarded as a commentary on the ancient Chinese chronicle . It comprises 30 chapters that cover the period from 722 to 468 BC, and it focuses mainly on the Chinese political, diplomatic, and military affairs from that era.” Wiki
In one version, a circus trainer found that his monkeys were becoming disobedient, lazy, mischievous, and unwilling to perform tricks. So, in front of all the monkeys, he took one chicken, killed it, and showed the body to the monkeys as a warning. The monkeys, terrified, immediately obeyed.
Hence, the phrase 杀鸡儆猴 was born. A method of enforcing discipline or obedience by punishing a weaker example to instil fear in others.
It’s a grim kind of “wisdom”. One that relies on fear as a teacher.
PART TWO: THE LOGIC OF FEAR
To understand why this idiom persisted, we need to see the worldview behind it.
Traditional Chinese governance, like many systems of the past, valued 威 - authority, awe, or power.
Maintaining order meant demonstrating strength.
In imperial China, a ruler who punished one official harshly could “warn a hundred others.” This idea became codified in the phrase 杀一儆百 — “kill one to warn a hundred.”
And 杀鸡儆猴 is simply a more colourful, almost theatrical version.

But there’s another layer: this idiom reveals how social psychology and animal imagery intertwine in Chinese thought.

The chicken represents weakness — 可牺牲, something “sacrificable” or ‘expendable”.

The monkey represents intelligence, agility, maybe even rebellion.

So the act is symbolic: punish the harmless to frighten the clever.

And that raises an unsettling question. Is fear the only way to control the clever?

PART THREE: POLITICAL AND CULTURAL USAGE

Throughout history, emperors, generals, and even business leaders have quoted 杀鸡儆猴 as a principle of management or strategy.

For example, during the Ming Dynasty (明朝), officials who opposed imperial policy were sometimes made examples of, public punishment to “warn the monkeys,” meaning other officials.

In modern times, the phrase still appears in Chinese media and commentary.

When a government cracks down on one celebrity for tax evasion, or one company for corruption, or a famous CEO for outspoken comments, netizens might say:

“这是在杀鸡儆猴”
“This is killing the chicken to warn the monkey.”

Even in workplaces, a manager might reprimand one employee publicly, sending a message to everyone else.

So the idiom survives because it works. Or rather, it appears to work.

Fear can create short-term obedience.
But as modern psychology reminds us, it rarely creates genuine moral understanding........

#animalwelfare #animalrights #chineseculture

Key Vocabulary:

杀鸡儆猴 (shā jī jǐng hóu): to kill a chicken to warn the monkey

威 (wēi): authority, awe, power

杀一儆百 (shā yī jǐng bǎi): kill one to warn a hundred

可牺牲 (kě xīshēng): expendable, sacrificable

工具道德 (gōngjù dàodé): instrumental morality

以德服人 (yǐ dé fú rén): win people through virtue