During the reign of King Xuan of Chu, the northern states were terrified of his general Zhao Xixu. Puzzled, the king raised this at court one day when Zhao was absent. A minister stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, have you heard of the fox who borrowed the tiger's might? The tiger hunted all beasts, but when it caught a fox, the fox declared, 'You dare not eat me! Heaven made me chief of all animals. If you doubt it, walk behind me and see if any creature dares stay.' The tiger agreed, and indeed, every beast fled at their approach. The tiger thought the fox was fearsome, not realizing it was the tiger they feared. Now, with your 500,000 elite troops entrusted to Zhao Xixu, the northern states fear your army, not Zhao himself." Source: *Strategies of the Warring States*, "Strategies of Chu."
A minister named Jiang Yi told King Xuan a fable:
In a remote mountain forest, a ferocious tiger was hunting for prey when it caught a fox and prepared to devour it. The fox, quick-witted, declared, "You dare not eat me! The Heavenly Emperor has appointed me king of all beasts. If you eat me, you defy Heaven's will." Seeing the tiger's doubt, the fox added, "If you don't believe me, follow me through the forest and watch how every creature flees in terror at my presence." Intrigued, the tiger agreed and walked behind the fox. As they passed, all the animals indeed scattered in panic—though they were actually fleeing the tiger, not the fox. The tiger, fooled, believed the fox's claim and let it go, never realizing the fox had used its own fearsome reputation to escape. This tale reminds us that cleverness can sometimes outwit raw power.
The cunning fox, quick-witted, put on a sacred and inviolable air and said, "You dare not eat me, for the Heavenly Emperor has appointed me king of all beasts. If you eat me, you will defy the Heavenly Emperor's command!"
At this point, the fox deliberately glanced at the tiger with arrogance. Seeing the tiger's skeptical expression, it added, "You think my words are unbelievable? Fine, then I'll walk ahead and you follow behind. Let's see if any of the beasts in this deep forest dare not flee when they see me."
The tiger thought this made sense and decided to follow along. As they walked, every beast they encountered fled far away. The tiger did not realize that the animals were terrified of its own majestic presence, not of the fox who was merely borrowing the title "King of Beasts."
After telling this fable, Jiang Yi got to the point: "Your Majesty now has five thousand li of territory and a million troops, but you've placed it all under General Zhao's command. Therefore, the northern states all fear him. In truth, they fear the army you gave him, just as the beasts in the deep mountains fear not the fox but the tiger."
After hearing this, King Xuan finally understood the deeper meaning behind the lesson.
Later, the idiom "A Fox Borrows a Tiger's Might" came to describe someone who uses another's power to intimidate others.
Source: *Strategies of the Warring States*, Chapter "Strategies of Chu I"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "狐假虎威" came to describe how someone uses another's power to intimidate others.