Jing Gong Zhi Niao

Literal Meaning: a bird startled by the sound of the bow string

Metaphorical Meaning: People may feel frightened when they meet the situation in which they got injured.

In the Warring States Period (475 – 221 BC), there was a marksman named Geng Lei in the State of Wei. One day, Geng Lei and the Duke of Wei were practicing the archery in the palace. Then Geng Lei saw a bird flying above their heads. He said to the Duke: “Your Majesty, I can shoot the bird down without an arrow.”

“Can you do this?” asked the Duke.

“Yes, I can,” answered Geng.

As they were speaking, a wild goose was flying in the sky from the east and mooing. When the wild goose approached, Geng Lei lifted his bow and pulled the string. With the sound of “Twang”, the wild goose fell from the sky. The Duke was quite surprises and asked: “Is that true? How did you do that?”

“This bird was injured, Your Majesty!” said Geng Lei.

“Then how did you know that it was injured?” asked the Duke more curiously.

“This bird flew very slowly and mooed sadly. That’s because it was injured by an arrow and the wound has not been fully recovered. It has been separated from its companions for a long time. That’s why it wooed so sadly. When it heard the sound of my pulling the bow string, it was afraid of being hurt by an arrow again, so it struggled to fly to a higher point. Then its wound opened again and it could not fly due to the unbearable pain.”

Then people use the phrase “Jing Gong Zhi Niao” to describe the people who feel frightened when they meet the situation in which they got injured.