请君入瓮 qǐng jūn rù wèng

In use

To catch someone with the very method they invented

Literally

please, sir, step into the jar

Pinyin

qǐng jūn rù wèng

The gap between those first two lines is the whole point of a chengyu. It is quoted whole, never assembled, and the literal reading is a picture from the story below rather than a definition — which is why translating the four characters one at a time rarely gets you there.

Empress Wu ordered the interrogator Lai Junchen to investigate his colleague Zhou Xing. Over dinner Lai asked, casually, what to do about a prisoner who will not confess; Zhou recommended a large jar, a ring of hot coals, and putting the man inside. Lai had the jar brought in, lit the fire, and invited Zhou to get in.

Source: 《资治通鉴》Zizhi Tongjian, 11th century AD

The reading shown is the one each character takes inside this idiom — chengyu keep older readings, so it is not always the everyday one. The meanings are read from the same dictionary that powers the translators.

Want the stroke order for one of these? Each character links to its dictionary entry, which animates it.

These share a character with 请君入瓮 or come from the same classical source, so the characters you have just learned pay off straight away.

What does 请君入瓮 mean?

请君入瓮 is pronounced qǐng jūn rù wèng and means to catch someone with the very method they invented. Literally it says "please, sir, step into the jar" — like most chengyu, the literal reading is a picture from a story rather than a definition.

Where does 请君入瓮 come from?

《资治通鉴》Zizhi Tongjian, 11th century AD. Empress Wu ordered the interrogator Lai Junchen to investigate his colleague Zhou Xing. Over dinner Lai asked, casually, what to do about a prisoner who will not confess; Zhou recommended a large jar, a ring of hot coals, and putting the man inside. Lai had the jar brought in, lit the fire, and invited Zhou to get in.

How do you pronounce 请君入瓮?

qǐng jūn rù wèng. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice. Tones here are citation tones, so 一 is written yī even where it is said yí in running speech.

What do the characters in 请君入瓮 mean?

请 (qǐng) Please (ask - invite - request), 君 (jūn) Ruler (gentleman - lord - prince), 入 (rù) Enter, 瓮 (wèng) Earthen jar (urn). These meanings come from the same dictionary as the translators on this site, and the reading shown is the one the character takes inside this idiom.

Is 请君入瓮 still used today?

Yes. Chengyu are not archaic — they are ordinary educated speech, and they turn up in conversation, newspapers and exams. This one sits in the advanced band, which reflects how common it is and how hard its characters are.