虎狼之心 — “A cruel and savage ambition”

虎狼之心 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a cruel and savage ambition”. A wolfish heart. Literally, “heart of a tiger and wolf”.

Frequency

虎狼之心 Pronunciation and Pinyin

虎狼之心 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
虎	hǔ	8	Tiger; brave; intimidate
狼	láng	10	wolf, cruel, greedy
之	zhī	4	possessive or connective particle
心	xīn	4	heart, mind, core

Example Sentence with 虎狼之心

他表面上装作友好，但内心却藏着虎狼之心，只想着如何夺取别人的利益。

He pretends to be friendly on the surface, but deep down, he harbors a tiger-wolf heart, only thinking about how to seize others' benefits.

Origin and Story of 虎狼之心

During the Warring States period, Lord Mengchang was preparing to visit the Qin state in the west.

One of his retainers advised him with an allegory: "I heard a conversation by the Zishui River between a clay figure and a wooden figure. The wooden figure warned the clay figure that since it was made of earth, it would dissolve upon contact with water. The clay figure retorted that the wooden figure was made from an Eastern garden peach tree and would drift aimlessly if it encountered water, just like being adrift in a foreign land.

The Qin state has the heart of a tiger and wolf (meaning it is cruel and ambitious); you must not go."

Lord Mengchang heeded his retainer's advice and dared not go to Qin.