Chinese idiom · 成语
以毒攻毒
Meaning
To fight poison with poison; counter harm with harm.
Character by character
Origin and story
traditional belief and metaphorThe expression draws on an old medical idea that a dangerous substance could counter another harmful influence. Its exact wording is documented in Luo Mi's Song work Lushi and in Tao Zongyi's Nancun Chuogeng Lu. The latter discusses a material called guduxi, describing it as a poisonous snake horn that could nevertheless counter poison. That is the text's premodern claim, not established zoology or a safe treatment recommendation. The expression later became figurative: one harmful agent, method, or internal weakness can be turned against another. Its point is the paradoxical tactic, not the belief that any poison automatically neutralizes another.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
对方恶意造谣，我们也不能以毒攻毒，编造假消息反击。
Even if the other side spreads malicious rumors, we shouldn't fight fire with fire by inventing false stories in return.
Figurative here: using a harmful method against another harmful method. Not advice to self-treat with toxic substances.