Hanzi

During the Warring States period, there was a clever and witty man named Chunyu. He learned that King Xuan of Qi was preparing to attack the State of Wei.

Chunyu went to see King Xuan and asked, "Your Majesty, have you heard the story of Han Zilü and Dongguo Qun?" "Han Zilü was the finest hunting dog under heaven, and Dongguo Qun was the most renowned cunning rabbit in the world. One day, Han Zilü was chasing Dongguo Qun. One desperately fled in front, the other desperately pursued from behind. What happened? They both ran until they were utterly exhausted, unable to move, and fell dead at the foot of the mountain."

"Just then, a farmer happened to pass by and effortlessly took both of them home to cook and eat."

King Xuan asked, "What does this have to do with my plan to attack Wei?"

Chunyu replied, "Your Majesty, if the State of Qi sends troops to attack Wei, it will certainly not be a victory achieved in a short time. In the end, both sides will become impoverished and depleted of resources, resulting in mutual damage. Not only will the common people suffer, but the nation's military strength will also be greatly harmed. If, by any chance, the States of Qin and Chu take this opportunity to attack us, wouldn't we be handing them the chance to conquer both Qi and Wei?"

King Xuan listened to Chunyu's words, found them very reasonable, and halted his plan to attack Wei. Later, this idiom '两败俱伤' (liǎng bài jù shāng) is used to describe a situation where two people of similar ability fight each other, and instead of one winning, both are injured or defeated.