以其人之道，还治其人之身 yǐ qí rén zhī dào ， huán zhì qí rén zhī shēn

to give sb a taste of his own medicine

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. to give sb a taste of his own medicine
  2. 2. 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

Characters

Character Meaning
以 yǐ HSK 2
to use; by means of; according to
其 qí HSK 3
its; their; it (refers to sth preceding it)
人 rén HSK 1
person; people; man
之 zhī HSK 4
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的de); it
道 dào HSK 2
to say; to speak; to talk
还 huán HSK 2
still; yet; even more
治 zhì HSK 5
to govern; to manage; to control
其 qí HSK 3
its; their; it (refers to sth preceding it)
人 rén HSK 1
person; people; man
之 zhī HSK 4
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的de); it
身 shēn HSK 2
body; oneself; personally