📖 Meaning
A metaphor for cruel officials colluding to frame innocent people and fabricate false charges. It derives from the notorious Tang dynasty inquisitors Ji Wen and Luo Xishì, whose names became shorthand for judicial tyranny.
📜 Origin Story
In the early Tianbao reign of the Tang dynasty, chancellor Li Linfu appointed Ji Wen and Luo Xishì as censors. Acting on Li's will, the two inquisitors framed political opponents and manufactured wrongful convictions, terrorizing the court. Their cruelty was so infamous that contemporaries coined the phrase 'Luo's pincers and Ji's nets' to describe how the pair trapped their victims, recorded in the Old Book of Tang's biography of cruel officials.
💡 Example Usage
彼时酷吏当道，吉网罗钳之事屡见不鲜，朝中人人自危。
In those days cruel officials held sway; cases of inquisitors colluding to frame the innocent were all too common, and everyone at court lived in fear.
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🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 吉网罗钳
- Pinyin: jí wǎng luó qián
- Literal Translation: Ji's net, Luo's pincers
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4