与虎谋皮 — “To ask a tiger for its skin”

与虎谋皮 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to ask a tiger for its skin”. To try to persuade a ruthless or evil person to act against their own interests, which is a futile and impossible task. Literally, “To consult with a tiger for its skin”.

Frequency

与虎谋皮 Pronunciation and Pinyin

与虎谋皮 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
与	yǔ	3	and; with; to give
虎	hǔ	8	Tiger; brave; intimidate
谋	móu	11	plan, scheme, or strive
皮	pí	5	skin, hide, peel, surface

Example Sentence with 与虎谋皮

想让那些不法商人主动放弃不义之财，简直是与虎谋皮。

To expect those unscrupulous merchants to voluntarily give up their ill-gotten gains is simply asking a tiger for its skin.

Origin and Story of 与虎谋皮

During the Zhou Dynasty, there was a man who often indulged in whimsical thoughts. One day, he desired a fox fur robe, so he went to the city to browse the shops. Although there were many choices, the prices were prohibitively expensive. He left the shop dejectedly, unable to afford such an item.

Suddenly, a strange idea popped into his head. He immediately rushed out of the city and headed straight for the mountains. He found a fox and pleaded with it to give him its skin. Upon hearing this, the fox immediately fled, taking its entire family to hide deep in the mountains.

This foolish man, undeterred, then went to try and obtain meat from sheep. The sheep immediately began bleating loudly and led their flock to hide in a mountain hollow. As a result, this foolish man returned empty-handed, having gained nothing.

The idiom "与虎谋皮" (yǔ hǔ móu pí, to ask a tiger for its skin) evolved from "与狐谋皮" (yǔ hú móu pí, to ask a fox for its skin). It metaphorically describes a futile attempt to demand something from a bad person.