A Chinese expression that all rich people would have thought about: 人怕出名猪怕壮

Q: Do you know what a pig is worried about most?

A: Getting too big and strong.

Why? Because that is about the time that he’ll be laid down on a butcher’s table and say his prayers before it’s last breathe – poor pig. Well the pig’s fate has been adopted by Chinese as a humorous Chinese expression to describe the dilemma that most successful people would face when they harvest fame as a byproduct during their successful pursuit of business or career. Just because they are well known by the public, they are more vulnerable to all kinds of open attack.

That’s why Hurun Report (Chinese rich people list) has been nicknamed as “杀猪榜 (shā zhū bàng)” due to the fact that a few top rich people on the list were put into prison not long after they got on the top of the list.

Chinese expression 人怕出名猪怕壮 (rén pà chū míng zhū pà zhuàng) is used for such condition. Literally it reads as “People dread fame as much as pigs dread being strong.” It’s meaning can summarized as “Great honors are great burdens.” as well.

Let’s learn how to use it through the following example:

    zhāng xiānsheng de pígé shēngyi yī nián zuò dé bǐ yī nián hǎo, kě yīnwèi yǒu” rén pà chūmíng zhū pà zhuàng” de xīnlǐ, tā cónglái bùyuàn jiēshòu jìzhě cǎifǎng.

    张先生的皮革生意一年做得比一年好. 可因为有”人怕出名猪怕壮”的心理, 他从来不愿接受记者采访.

    Mr. Zhang has done better and better on his leather business. However, he never wanted to be interviewed by the media due to his concerns that great honors are great burdens.
    1. ren-pa-chu-ming

OK, now it’s your turn to turn it into your own vocabulary by practice, practice and practice!

Have yourself a wonderful weekend and see you next time!

PS: Thanks Barry to suggest a similar idiom in English: Fame can be a double-edged sword.