The shame of crawling through the crotch. A metaphor for great humiliation.
Idiom Pronunciation:
胯下之辱
kuà xià zhī rǔ
Origin:
《史记·淮阴侯列传》：“淮阴屠中少年有侮信者……众辱之曰：‘信能死，刺我；不能死，出我袴下’。于是信孰视之，俛出袴下，蒲伏。”
Story:
Han Xin was a famous Chinese military commander during the Qin and Han dynasties. He came from a poor background and lost both parents at a young age. Before he established his military career, Han Xin could not do business and did not want to farm, and his family had little property. He had some friendship with a local official, so he often went to the official’s house to eat, but over time, the official’s wife resented him, so she deliberately advanced the dinner time, and by the time Han Xin arrived, there was no food left. When Han Xin arrived, there was no food left. In his anger, he broke off his friendship with the official.
In order to save his life and get something to eat, Han Xin had to go fishing in the local Huai Shui. When an old woman who washed clothes saw that he had no food to eat, she gave him the food she brought with her, and so on for dozens of days, every day. Han Xin was so moved that he said to the old woman, “One day I will repay you well.” When she heard this, she said, “You are a man who cannot feed yourself, and I am giving you food because I see that you are poor. Hearing this, Han Xin was ashamed and determined to make a great achievement.
One day, when a young man saw that Han Xin was tall but always wore a sword, he thought he was a coward and stopped him in the marketplace, saying, “If you have the guts, draw your sword and stab me; if you are a coward, go under my pants.” The onlookers knew that this was a deliberate attempt to humiliate Han Xin, and wondered how the situation would evolve next. After a moment’s reflection, Han Xin silently drilled through the man’s crotch. The people there laughed, thinking that Han Xin was a cowardly and courageous man. This is the story of the “crotch humiliation” that was passed down later.
In fact, Han Xin was a very resourceful person. He saw that society was in the process of changing dynasties, so he concentrated on studying the art of war and practicing martial arts, believing that he would have his own day of prominence. In 209 B.C., a peasant uprising broke out across the country against the Qin dynasty, and Han Xin joined one of the stronger armies. The leader of the army was Liu Bang, who would later become the founding emperor of the next dynasty. At first, Han Xin worked as a small official in charge of transporting grain and hay, and was very unpromising. Later he met Liu Bang’s strategist Xiao He. Under Xiao He’s recommendation, Han Xin was transformed from a grain carrier to a general. In the process of helping Liu Bang to fight the world, he made great achievements.
