In 202 B.C. the army of Han, led by Liu Bang, had been at war for years with the army of Chu, led by Xiang Yu. Both sides were wearied with the hardships of continuous campaigning. By then they were pitted against each other in the area of Xingyang. The Chu army had high morale but was short of food, while the Han army was weaker but had abundant food. Liu Bang sent envoys to persuade Xiang Yu that they should divide the country between them, with Honggou as the boundary - east of Honggou would belong to Chu, and west of it would belong to Han. Xiang Yu returned Liu Bang's capture father, wife and children, and then retreated eastward, to the great relief of his men. Liu Bang was also preparing to retreat, but his advisers Zhang Liang and Chen Ping said to him, "Now the Chu army is exhausted and lacking in food, we ought to seize the opportunity and wipe them out. If we do not do so, it will be like the saying 'to rear a tiger is to court calamity'. " So Liu Bang rallied his forces and pursued the Chu army, finally wiping them out. Thereupon Xiang Yu killed himself.

Later, the saying came to be used to indicate that appeasement brings disagter.