📖 Meaning
To comprehensively assess and weigh both someone's achievements and their offenses in order to reach a fair and balanced judgment. It emphasizes impartial evaluation rather than judging by a single standard. The idiom reflects the principle of considering the full picture before passing judgment.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom does not trace to a single classical text, but it embodies a core principle of traditional Chinese legal and political thought: the balanced assessment of merit and fault. Ancient Chinese rulers and officials were expected to evaluate subordinates by weighing both their contributions and transgressions, rather than rewarding or punishing based on isolated acts. This concept appears in various historical contexts, from military evaluations to civil service assessments, where commanders and ministers had to decide promotions, demotions, or pardons by 'calculating merit and measuring crime.'
💡 Example Usage
处理此事应计功量罪，不可偏废一方。
When handling this matter, one should weigh both the merits and the offenses, and not favor one side unfairly.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 计功量罪
- Pinyin: jì gōng liàng zuì
- Literal Translation: calculate, merit, measure, crime
- Category: Wisdom
- Characters: 4