鹊巢鸠居 — “To occupy another's nest”

鹊巢鸠居 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to occupy another's nest”. To unlawfully seize or take over someone else's property, position, or possessions. Literally, “The magpie builds the nest, the turtledove lives in it”.

Frequency

鹊巢鸠居 Pronunciation and Pinyin

鹊巢鸠居 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
鹊	què	13	magpie
巢	cháo	11	nest, den, hideout
鸠	jiū	7	dove or pigeon
居	jū	8	to live or reside

Example Sentence with 鹊巢鸠居

那个租客合同到期后仍不肯搬走，简直是鹊巢鸠居，让房东非常头疼。

The tenant refused to move out after the lease expired, practically usurping the property, which gave the landlord a massive headache.

Origin and Story of 鹊巢鸠居

The idiom "Que Chao Jiu Ju" (鹊巢鸠居) originates from "The Book of Odes" (Shijing), the earliest collection of Chinese poetry. Specifically, it comes from the poem "Quechao" (Magpie's Nest) in the "Zhaonan" section. The poem depicts a magpie building a nest, and a turtledove then taking residence in it.

The original poem states: "The magpie builds its nest, the turtledove occupies it; when the maiden marries, a hundred chariots accompany her." Initially, this was a metaphor for a woman getting married and moving into her husband's home, symbolizing her settling into her new family.

Over time, however, the meaning of the idiom evolved. It came to describe the act of someone forcibly or unjustly occupying another person's house, land, or possessions, or taking over what rightfully belongs to someone else, thus portraying an act of usurpation.