狼子野心

Origin and story

The Zuo Tradition, Duke Xuan's fourth year, recounts Ziwen's alarm at the birth of Yuejiao in the ruling clan of Chu. Reading the child's appearance and voice as ominous, he quotes a proverb that a wolf cub has a wild heart and predicts disaster for the Ruo'ao family. The father refuses his extreme demand that the child be killed; later conflict is narrated as confirming the warning.

The text already calls the saying a proverb, so it does not claim Ziwen invented it. Its judgment from an infant's features belongs to the account's ominous storytelling, not a reliable way to assess children. Modern usage is a severe accusation of vicious or treacherous intent.