📖 Meaning
This idiom describes people who seize and firmly hold onto power while colluding and supporting one another. It refers to forming entrenched networks of influence through mutual connections and alliances, often to the detriment of proper governance.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from 'Zizhi Tongjian' (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance), recording events from the first year of Jiaping (249 AD) during the Cao Wei dynasty of the Three Kingdoms period. The regent Cao Shuang monopolized power, replacing the palace guards with his own loyalists and forming entrenched networks of mutual collusion. The phrase describes how his faction seized and held onto positions of authority, growing increasingly reckless and tyrannical. Sima Yi eventually launched a coup known as the Incident at Gaoping Tombs, overthrowing Cao Shuang and dismantling his power base.
💡 Example Usage
这些权臣根据盘互，把持朝政，百姓苦不堪言。
These powerful ministers entrenched themselves and colluded with one another to control the government, making the common people suffer miserably.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 根据盘互
- Pinyin: gēn jù pán hù
- Literal Translation: root, occupy, intertwine, mutual
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4