覆巢无完卵 — “When the nest is overturned, no eggs remain unbroken”
覆巢无完卵 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “When a whole entity or group suffers a devastating collapse or destruction, no individual part or member within it can remain unaffected or escape harm”. Literally, “When the nest is overturned, no eggs remain unbroken”.
覆巢无完卵 Pronunciation and Pinyin
覆巢无完卵 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 覆巢无完卵
Origin and Story of 覆巢无完卵
During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Kong Rong, the Chancellor of Beihai, opposed Cao Cao's plan to lead a 500,000-strong army against Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
The Imperial Censor, who had always been at odds with Kong Rong, took the opportunity to maliciously slander him and stir up trouble before Cao Cao.
Enraged, Cao Cao ordered the arrest of Kong Rong's entire family.
Kong Rong's children, however, remained calm and made no attempt to escape.
One of them famously asked, "My lord, how can there be an intact egg when the nest is overturned?"
Idioms Related to 覆巢无完卵
Synonyms of 覆巢无完卵
More idioms starting with 覆
- fù覆wáng亡wú无rì日doomed to perish soon
- fù覆gōng公zhé折zú足incompetent in a position of responsibility
- fù覆jūn军shā杀jiāng将annihilate army and kill generals
- fù覆qián前jiè戒hòu后learn from past mistakes
- fù覆qù去fān翻lái来toss and turn repeatedly
- fù覆dì地fān翻tiān天cause earth-shaking changes
- fù覆zōng宗miè灭sì祀destroy family line and ancestral worship
- fù覆zōng宗jué绝sì嗣destroy the clan and end the family line
- fù覆cháo巢qīng倾luǎn卵When the main entity is destroyed, all constituents suffer
- fù覆cháo巢huǐ毁luǎn卵If the whole is destroyed, no part remains intact
- fù覆shì是wèi为fēi非distort the truth
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Open the tool →Questions about 覆巢无完卵
What does 覆巢无完卵 mean?
覆巢无完卵 (fù cháo wú wán luǎn) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “When a whole entity or group suffers a devastating collapse or destruction, no individual part or member within it can remain unaffected or escape harm”.
How do you pronounce 覆巢无完卵?
覆巢无完卵 is pronounced fù cháo wú wán luǎn in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 覆巢无完卵 literally mean?
Literally, 覆巢无完卵 means “When the nest is overturned, no eggs remain unbroken”. It is used to mean “When a whole entity or group suffers a devastating collapse or destruction, no individual part or member within it can remain unaffected or escape harm”.
Where does 覆巢无完卵 come from?
覆巢无完卵 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 覆巢无完卵?
覆：翻倒。翻倒的鸟窝里不会有完好的卵。比喻灭门大祸，无一幸免。又比喻整体毁灭，个体也不能幸存。