During China's Northern and Southern Dynasties, a period marked by relentless warfare, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei—a ruthless and warlike ruler—repeatedly invaded the borders of the Liu Song Dynasty under Emperor Wen, plunging border residents into misery. Bandits from both sides exploited the chaos, crossing into enemy territory to burn, kill, and loot, making life unbearable for the people.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the region of Yuzhou sat right on the border between the Northern Wei and the Liu Song dynasties. The governors of Yuzhou from both sides exchanged letters, each accusing the other of failing to suppress bandits, allowing the scourge of banditry to spread unchecked.
In his letter, Wei's Inspector Beijing Marquis Ruokuchen Shulan said that Song's local officials failed to defend against bandits, causing year-long unrest. He hoped that, except for envoys, "people's footprints would not cross the border, border residents would see each other's smoke and hear each other's chickens and dogs, yet grow old and die without mutual contact."
Liu Shuo, the governor of Song and Prince of Nanping, wrote back, explaining that the southern court's campaign against bandits had driven them northward, scurrying like foxes and rats. Yet the Northern Wei treated these outlaws as if they were long-lost loyalists, supplying them with grain and weapons, emboldening them to ravage the land until even innocent elders and children could not escape harm. He urged the Wei to honor their pledge of peaceful neighborly relations.
Both sides shifted blame to each other, yet the bandits along the border grew more rampant with each passing day.
The idiom "Foxes Scamper, Rats Scatter" means to flee like foxes and rats, describing a scene of panicked escape.
Source: *Book of Song*, "Biography of the Suolu"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "狐奔鼠窜" came to describe how to flee like foxes and rats, describing a scene of panicked escape.