📖 Meaning
Bribery carried out openly and without concealment. It describes a situation where people openly use money and property to buy others into engaging in improper or corrupt activities. The phrase condemns public, unabashed corruption.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the 'Records of the Three Kingdoms' (三国志) by the Jin dynasty historian Chen Shou, in the 'Biography of Emperor Wu of Wei' (武帝纪). The text describes the political decay at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty: the three highest officials (三公) were crooked and sycophantic, currying favor with the powerful, and bribes circulated openly in parallel. The strong and resentful were never impeached, while the weak who upheld integrity were slandered and ruined. This depiction of rampant official corruption set the historical backdrop against which Cao Cao rose to power.
💡 Example Usage
晚唐宦官当道，货赂公行，朝政日益腐败。
In the late Tang dynasty, eunuchs wielded power, bribery was openly rampant, and the court grew increasingly corrupt.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 货赂公行
- Pinyin: huò lù gōng xíng
- Literal Translation: goods, bribes, openly, conduct
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4