📖 Meaning
A red tongue like fire can burn down a city. This idiom describes how slanderous or divisive words can cause immense harm to a person, just as fire can destroy a whole city. It warns that vicious gossip and malicious talk are as destructive as an inferno.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Han dynasty scholar Yang Xiong's work Taixuanjing (太玄经), in the 'Gan' (干) chapter, which reads: 'A red tongue burns the city; spit water into the bottle' (赤舌烧城，吐水于瓶). The phrase likens the tongue, when used for slander, to a blazing red flame capable of razing a city. Later, in the Qing dynasty, Chen Benli's commentary Taixuan Tance elaborated that petty people fabricate accusations to harm the virtuous, and their tongues are as red as fire, threatening to burn down the city — reinforcing the idea that calumny is as ruinous as fire itself.
💡 Example Usage
网络上的造谣污蔑如赤舌烧城，竟能毁掉一个人的清白。
Malicious rumors online spread like a red tongue burning the city, and can destroy a person's innocence in an instant.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 赤舌烧城
- Pinyin: chì shé shāo chéng
- Literal Translation: red, tongue, burn, city
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4