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Jia Yuchun was drinking at a village tavern when he met Leng Zixing, a trader from the capital. The two were old acquaintances and got along very well.
Over their drinks, they discussed the affairs of the Jia family's Rongguo and Ningguo Mansions in the capital.
Leng Zixing remarked, 'As the ancients put it: "A centipede, though dead, doesn't stiffen." Although their family is not as prosperous as in earlier years, compared to ordinary official families, their overall stature is still vastly different.'

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Open the tool →死而不僵 (sǐ ér bù jiāng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Though seemingly dead or inactive, it still retains some power or influence; difficult to eradicate completely”.
死而不僵 is pronounced sǐ ér bù jiāng in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 死而不僵 means “dead but not stiff”. It is used to mean “Though seemingly dead or inactive, it still retains some power or influence; difficult to eradicate completely”.
死而不僵 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to the modern era. The full story is on this page.
即使死了也不僵硬。形容坏势力等不容易被清除