What do you mean, you have to tie the bell when you untie it?

He who tied the bell means: whoever caused the trouble will eventually need to solve it.

The "tie" here should be pronounced √√, which means hanging a bell with a rope around the tiger's neck.

This idiom comes from a monk named Deng Fa. According to Qu Ruji's Ming Dynasty Buddhist Zen Quotations "Fingering the Moon and Recording Volume 23", there was a Taiqin Deng Fa Zen master in Liang Qing Temple in Jinling, Southern Tang Dynasty. He has a bold personality. He doesn't always follow Buddhist precepts. Generally speaking, monks in temples look down on him, while Buddhist monks hold him high.

On one occasion, while giving a lecture, Fayan asked all the monks in the temple, "Who can take off the golden bell tied around the tiger's neck?" Everyone thought and thought, unable to answer. At this time, the light of law came, and the law asked him this question again. "Only those who tie the golden bell around the tiger's neck can untie the golden bell," Fadden replied rashly. He listened to the law and thought he could understand the teachings of Buddhism. Later, this sentence was handed down by the idiom "He who tied the bell must untie it".

Extended data

The source of this sentence is "Zen Quotations"

Zen quotations are one of the "classics" of Zen. China's Zen Buddhism, based on the teachings of ancestors, produced quotations, Zen history, and lamp records, and replaced thousands of foreign translations with these self-created classics. This is a great achievement of the independent development of Buddhism in China, and its value, significance and influence are very important and far-reaching. As far as literature is concerned, Zen quotations, Zen history and lanterns are one of the main categories of Zen literary works. They are unique achievements in the history of China's prose, and have a wide and far-reaching influence on contemporary and future literary circles.

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He who tied the bell must untie the bell.