📖 Meaning
To fail to distinguish between black and white, i.e., to confuse right and wrong. It describes someone who cannot tell good from evil or truth from falsehood and acts without discernment. The phrase uses 'blue-green and white' as a variant of 'black and white,' symbolizing right and wrong.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom is a variant of the more common phrase 不分皂白 (not distinguishing black from white). The character 皂 (zào) means black, and 白 (bái) means white; together they represent right and wrong. In 不分青白, the character 青 (qīng, blue-green) replaces 皂 as a near-synonym in colloquial usage. The expression has been used in vernacular literature since the Ming and Qing dynasties to criticize people who act rashly without examining the facts.
💡 Example Usage
他办事不分青白，把好人坏人都骂了一顿。
He handles things without distinguishing right from wrong, scolding both the good and the bad alike.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 不分青白
- Pinyin: bù fēn qīng béi
- Literal Translation: not, distinguish, blue-green, white
- Category: Clarity
- Characters: 4