📖 Meaning
The idiom contrasts the pure and innocent (white jade) with the slanderous and treacherous (green fly). It is used to describe the coexistence of good and evil, or loyal and wicked people, often implying that slander can stain an innocent person's reputation.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom derives from a poem by the Tang dynasty poet Chen Zi'ang titled 'Hu Chu Zhen Jin Suo' (胡楚真禁所), which contains the line 'Once a green fly lights upon it, the white jade suffers injustice.' The imagery draws on the classical metaphor where green flies represent slanderers and white jade symbolizes a person of unblemished integrity. Over time the paired phrase came to signify the sharp contrast between the virtuous and the treacherous.
💡 Example Usage
朝堂之上白璧青蝇并存，君王须明辨忠奸。
In the court the pure and the treacherous stand side by side; the ruler must clearly distinguish the loyal from the wicked.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 白璧青蝇
- Pinyin: bái bì qīng yíng
- Literal Translation: white jade, green fly
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4