弱肉强食
ruò ròu qiáng shí
the weak are prey to the strong; the law of the jungle
Character by character
弱ruò
weak
weak
肉ròu
flesh
flesh
强qiáng
strong
strong
食shí
eat
eat
Example
一亿多年前的辽西同样弱肉强食，只是强者未必是恐龙：科学家在一只爬兽的胃里发现了一只小鹦鹉嘴龙的骨头。
Western Liaoning over a hundred million years ago was also a world of eat or be eaten, but the strong were not always the dinosaurs: in the stomach of a Repenomamus, a mammal, scientists found the bones of a young Psittacosaurus.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
From 韩愈’s 送浮屠文畅师序: 弱之肉，强之食. It describes nature red in tooth and claw and, more often, critically, a society or market where the powerful crush the weak: 弱肉强食的丛林法则. Idiom dictionaries class it as derogatory: it names a harsh reality, not an ideal.
Learn this in Lesson 165 · HSK 7–9: 辽西的带毛恐龙 (The feathered dinosaurs of Liaoning)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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