📖 Meaning
Being in a situation that naturally invites suspicion of wrongdoing. The phrase alludes to the ancient saying about not bending down in a melon field or reaching up under a plum tree, lest one be falsely accused of stealing. It describes a position or circumstance where one's innocence is hard to prove.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom traces back to a Han dynasty folk poem advising gentlemen to avoid even the appearance of impropriety—do not bend to adjust your shoes in a melon field, nor reach up to fix your hat beneath a plum tree, lest observers suspect you of stealing the fruit. The specific phrase appears in the Old Tang History (旧唐书), in the biography of the calligrapher-official Liu Gongquan, who used it to explain why a matter could not be made widely understood due to the suspicion it entailed. Over time '瓜李之嫌' became a shorthand for any compromising position that breeds suspicion.
💡 Example Usage
他主动避嫌，辞去了评审委员一职，以免瓜李之嫌。
He voluntarily stepped down from the review committee to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 瓜李之嫌
- Pinyin: guā lǐ zhī xián
- Literal Translation: melon, plum, of, suspicion
- Category: Status
- Characters: 4