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以其人之道，还治其人之身

yǐ qí rén zhī dào , huán zhì qí rén zhī shēndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to use an opponent's own methods to obtain retribution (idiom, from Song dynasty neo-Confucianist Zhu Xi 朱熹[Zhū Xī]) / to get revenge by playing sb back at his own game / to give sb a taste of his own medicine
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-924bb18c33e3c655. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

以其人之道，還治其人之身 以其人之道，还治其人之身 [yi3 qi2 ren2 zhi1 dao4 , huan2 zhi4 qi2 ren2 zhi1 shen1] /to use an opponent's own methods to obtain retribution (idiom, from Song dynasty neo-Confucianist Zhu Xi 朱熹[Zhu1 Xi1])/to get revenge by playing sb back at his own game; to give sb a taste of his own medicine/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 以其人之道，還治其人之身

  • 以
    yǐ

    to use / by means of / according to / in order to / because of / at (a certain date or place)

    Yǐ

    abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yǐ sè liè]

  • 其
    qí

    his / her / its / their / that / such / it (refers to sth preceding it)

  • 人
  • 之
    zhī

    (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de]) / him / her / it

  • 道
    dào

    road / path (CL:條|条[tiáo],股[gǔ]) / (bound form) way / reason / principle / (bound form) a skill / an art / a specialization / (Daoism) the Way / the Dao / to say (introducing a direct quotation, as in a novel) / (bound form) to express / to extend (polite words) / classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks, shadows etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process / (old) circuit (administrative division)

  • 还
    hái

    still / still in progress / still more / yet / even more / in addition / fairly / passably (good) / as early as / even / also / else

    huán

    to pay back / to return

    Huán

    surname Huan

  • 治
    zhì

    to rule / to govern / to manage / to control / to harness (a river) / to treat (a disease) / to wipe out (a pest) / to punish / to research

  • 其
    qí

    his / her / its / their / that / such / it (refers to sth preceding it)

  • 人
  • 之
    zhī

    (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de]) / him / her / it

  • 身
    shēn

    body / life / oneself / personally / one's morality and conduct / the main part of a structure or body / pregnant / classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset / Kangxi radical 158

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.