📖 Meaning
Describes a person who is firm, upright, and incorruptible — never bending to curry favor or showing partiality. It embodies unwavering moral integrity and the refusal to pander to power or influence.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in Yu Jideng's '典故纪闻' (Records of Classical Allusions), Volume 14, from the Ming Dynasty. The original passage discusses how officials who were 'righteous and unyielding, refusing to engage in private lobbying' were unjustly deemed unworthy by those who preferred flattery and backdoor dealings. The phrase thus crystallized as a hallmark of incorruptible character in Chinese bureaucratic tradition.
💡 Example Usage
他一生刚直不阿，从不向权贵低头。
All his life he was unyielding and upright, never bowing his head to the powerful.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 刚直不阿
- Pinyin: gāng zhí bù ē
- Literal Translation: unyielding, upright, not, flattering
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4