不敢越雷池一步

Chinese

to not dare; cannot; must not
to not dare; cannot; must not; should not
 
to exceed; to climb over; to surpass
to exceed; to climb over; to surpass; the more ... the more
 
 one step; a single step
trad. (不敢越雷池一步) 不敢 越 雷池 一步
simp. #(不敢越雷池一步) 不敢 越 雷池 一步

Etymology

From a letter written in 327 CE, recorded in The Book of Jin:

亮並不聽，而報嶠書曰：“吾憂西陲過於歷陽，足下無過雷池一步也。” [Literary Chinese, trad.]
亮并不听，而报峤书曰：“吾忧西陲过于历阳，足下无过雷池一步也。” [Literary Chinese, simp.]
From: 648 CE, Fang Xuanling (lead editor), Book of Jin
Liàng bìng bù tīng, ér bào Jiào shū yuē: “Wú yōu xī chuí guòyú Lìyáng, zúxià wú guò Léichí yībù yě.” [Pinyin]
[Yu] Liang refused to heed the advice and wrote back to [Wen] Jiao, stating, ‘My greatest worry lies in the western frontier rather than Liyang [present-day He County, Anhui]. Please do not cross Thunder Pond by even a single step.’

At the time, Wen Jiao, a loyal general stationed in Xunyang (modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi), wanted to lead his troops to the capital Jiankang (modern Nanjing, Jiangsu) to suppress the rebellion led by the warlord Su Jun. However, Yu Liang, a high-ranking minister in charge of the imperial court, sent the letter above to Wen Jiao urging caution.

This idiom later evolved to describe someone who rigidly adheres to rules, keeping cautiously within bounds and refusing to take risks or deviate from established limits at any circumstance.

Pronunciation

Idiom

不敢越雷池一步

  1. to dare not go one step beyond the limit; to stay strictly within bounds
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