# 暴虎馮河
## Chinese

| | | sudden; violent; cruelsudden; violent; cruel; to show or expose; to injure | tiger | to wade | river |
| trad. (暴虎馮河) | trad. (暴虎馮河) | 暴 | 虎 | 馮 | 河 |
| simp. (暴虎冯河) | simp. (暴虎冯河) | 暴 | 虎 | 冯 | 河 |
| Literally: “to fight tiger bare-handed and wade rivers”. ||||||

### Etymology

The earliest reference was attested in the Classic of Poetry, poem 195 (《詩經·小雅·小旻》), in the negative :
    不敢暴虎，不敢馮河。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]不敢暴虎，不敢冯河。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11th – 7th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's versionBùgǎn bàohǔ, bùgǎn pínghé. [Pinyin]They dare not without weapons attack a tiger; They dare not without a boat cross the He.
The literal meaning was also commented upon in the Erya, likely quoting from Kong Anguo's commentary on the Analects.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): bàohǔ-pínghé
    (Zhuyin): ㄅㄠˋ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄏㄜˊ
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: bàohǔ-pínghé
*** Zhuyin: ㄅㄠˋ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄏㄜˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: bàohǔpínghé
*** Wade–Giles: pao$^4$-hu$^3$-pʻing$^2$-ho$^2$
*** Yale: bàu-hǔ-píng-hé
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bawhuupyngher
*** Palladius: баохупинхэ (baoxupinxɛ)
*** Sinological IPA : /pɑʊ̯⁵¹ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰiŋ³⁵ xɤ³⁵/
* Middle Chinese: bawH xuX bing ha
Rime :
| Character | 暴 | 虎 | 馮 | 河 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 1/1 | 2/2 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 並 (3) | 曉 (32) | 並 (3) | 匣 (33) |
| Final (韻) | 豪 (89) | 模 (23) | 蒸 (133) | 歌 (94) |
| Tone (調) | Departing (H) | Rising (X) | Level (Ø) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | I | I | III | I |
| Fanqie | 薄報切 | 呼古切 | 扶冰切 | 胡歌切 |
| Baxter | bawH | xuX | bing | ha |
| Reconstructions |||||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /bɑu$^H$/ | /huo$^X$/ | /bɨŋ/ | /ɦɑ/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /bɑu$^H$/ | /huo$^X$/ | /bɨŋ/ | /ɦɑ/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /bɑu$^H$/ | /xo$^X$/ | /bieŋ/ | /ɣɑ/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /baw$^H$/ | /hɔ$^X$/ | /biŋ/ | /ɦa/ |
| Li Rong | /bɑu$^H$/ | /xo$^X$/ | /biəŋ/ | /ɣɑ/ |
| Wang Li | /bɑu$^H$/ | /xu$^X$/ | /bĭəŋ/ | /ɣɑ/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /bʱɑu$^H$/ | /xuo$^X$/ | /bʱi̯əŋ/ | /ɣɑ/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | bào | hǔ | píng | hé |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | bou$^6$ | fu$^2$ | ping$^4$ | ho$^4$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*[b]ˤawk-s qʰˤraʔ [b]rəŋ [C.ɡ]ˤaj/
    (Zhengzhang): /*boːwɢs qʰlaːʔ brɯŋ ɡaːl/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 暴 | 虎 | 馮 | 馮 | 河 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 1/1 | 1/3 | 2/3 | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | bào | hǔ | píng | píng | hé |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ baw$^H$ › | ‹ xu$^X$ › | ‹ bing › | ‹ bing › | ‹ ha › |
| Old Chinese | /*[b]ˁawk-s/ | /*qʰˁraʔ/ (W dialect: *qˁʰr- >r̥ˁ- > x-) | /*[b]rəŋ/ | /*[b]rəŋ/ | /*[C.ɡ]ˁaj/ |
| English | violent | tiger | full, solid | lean on | river |
| Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary. ||||||
Zhengzhang system (2003) :
| Character | 暴 | 虎 | 馮 | 河 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1/1 |
| No. | 330 | 5230 | 858 | 7459 |
| Phonetic component | 暴 | 虍 | 仌 | 可 |
| Rime group | 貌 | 魚 | 蒸 | 歌 |
| Rime subdivision | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 暴 | 虎 | 凭 | 何 |
| Old Chinese | /*boːwɢs/ | /*qʰlaːʔ/ | /*brɯŋ/ | /*ɡaːl/ |

### Idiom

暴虎馮河
* (figurative) bull-headed heroism
    From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
    Bàohǔpínghé, sǐ ér wúhuǐ zhě, wú bù yǔ yě. [Pinyin]
    He who will unarmed attack a tiger, or cross a river without a boat, dying without any regret, I would not have act with me.