dưỡng hổ di hoạn

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

Rearing the tiger, storing the sorrow — kindness invested in the vicious matures into harm.

Literally: raise a tiger, bequeath calamity

Examples

Dung túng kẻ gian là dưỡng hổ di hoạn.Sheltering the crooked is raising the tiger that mauls you.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “dưỡng hổ di hoạn” mean?

Rearing the tiger, storing the sorrow — kindness invested in the vicious matures into harm. Literally: raise a tiger, bequeath calamity

Is “dưỡng hổ di hoạn” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.