📖 Meaning
This idiom refers to acting against one's natural disposition while indulging in worldly sentiments. It describes departing from innate human nature to follow artificial social conventions. The character 倍 here is interchangeable with 背, meaning 'to go against.'
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from Zhuangzi (庄子), specifically the chapter 'Nourishing the Master of Life' (养生主), written during the Warring States period by the Daoist philosopher Zhuang Zhou. The text critiques excessive mourning as going against natural law and adding worldly emotion, calling such behavior 'the punishment of one who flees from heaven.' The Tang dynasty scholar Cheng Xuanying (成玄英) explained it as 'fleeing from heavenly principles and doubling worldly emotions.' The idiom warns against violating the natural order by imposing human sentimentality on what should follow the course of nature.
💡 Example Usage
世人多遁天倍情，迷失本性而不自知。
Most people flee from their nature and turn against their true feelings, losing touch with their innate disposition without ever realizing it.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 遁天倍情
- Pinyin: dùn tiān bèi qíng
- Literal Translation: flee, heaven, turn against, emotion
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4