📖 Meaning
To impose tyrannical taxes and extort wealth from the people by violent means. It describes oppressive rulers who ruthlessly levy heavy burdens and confiscate resources, treating the populace with cruelty and greed. The idiom condemns the exploitative behavior of corrupt or despotic regimes.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from a memorial written by the Song dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi, titled 'Yi You Ni Shang Feng Shi' (A Memorial Drafted in the Yi You Year). Zhu Xi warned that since the state's finances all derive from the people, if expenditures are not controlled and fiscal shortfalls arise, then tyrannical taxation and violent extortion would inevitably fall upon the common folk. He argued that even if a ruler possesses benevolent intentions, the people would not benefit from such grace if they are ground down by oppressive levies. The phrase thus became a lasting critique of despotic governance and the greed of ruling classes throughout Chinese history.
💡 Example Usage
封建统治者横赋暴敛，致使百姓流离失所、怨声载道。
The feudal rulers imposed ruthless taxes and extorted the people mercilessly, leaving the common folk displaced and filled with grievance.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 横赋暴敛
- Pinyin: héng fù bào liǎn
- Literal Translation: overbearing, tax, violent, exact
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4