📖 Meaning
To collude with others, show mutual favoritism, and form factions for private gain. It describes people who gang up together to serve their own selfish interests rather than the public good, often in a political or official context.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from Cao Cao's 'Order on Rectifying Customs' (整齐风俗令) issued during the Three Kingdoms period under the Wei dynasty, where he declared that 'forming factions and cliques was detested by the former sages.' It also appears in He Yan's collected commentary on the Analects (Wei Ling Gong chapter), quoting Wang Su of Wei, who explained that people may either form cliques (阿党比周) or stand out as exceptional individuals, and thus one must carefully investigate why someone is liked or disliked by the masses. The idiom thus has roots in early Confucian political ethics condemning factionalism.
💡 Example Usage
朝中大臣阿党比周，蒙蔽圣听，致使朝政日非。
The court ministers colluded and formed factions, deceiving the sovereign and causing the administration of government to deteriorate by the day.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 阿党比周
- Pinyin: ē dǎng bǐ zhōu
- Literal Translation: pander, faction, associate, surround
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4