📖 Meaning
This idiom refers to an official who steals public property that they are personally responsible for guarding or supervising in the course of their duties. It is equivalent to the variant '监主自盗'. The term describes the specific crime of an officeholder embezzling funds or goods entrusted to their own custody.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from Zeng Zao's 'Lei Shuo' (类说), citing 'Ming Chen Zhuan' (名臣传) regarding Du Yan of the Northern Song dynasty. Du Yan served in the central government, and powerful court officials sought to remove him from office. They seized upon the case of Shun Qin, who was accused of '监临自盗' — embezzling funds while supervising the purchase of old paper at the Jin Zou Yuan (进奏院, a government relay office) — and used his dismissal to destabilize Du Yan's position. Du Yan himself eventually requested retirement over the affair.
💡 Example Usage
他身为库管却监临自盗，终被查出而入狱。
As the warehouse keeper he embezzled the very funds he was supposed to guard, and was eventually exposed and imprisoned.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 监临自盗
- Pinyin: jiān lín zì dào
- Literal Translation: supervise, oversee, self, steal
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4