📖 Meaning
Describes a crime or sin of immense magnitude, so great that it seems to obscure the heavens. The idiom uses the metaphor of wrongdoing so vast it blocks out the sky, emphasizing a transgression beyond redemption or forgiveness.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom traces to the Yuan dynasty anonymous play 'Xie Jinwu' (谢金吾), where the fourth act contains the line 'Even with heaven-filling crimes, they are hard to redeem.' The phrase uses the vivid imagery of a crime so enormous it covers the entire sky. It was later cemented in classical literature through its appearance in Ming dynasty works such as Shi Nai'an's 'Water Margin' (水浒传). Over time, '迷天大罪' became a standard expression for unforgivable, colossal offenses.
💡 Example Usage
他犯下迷天大罪，必将受到法律的严惩。
He committed a sky-obscuring crime and will surely face the full severity of the law.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 迷天大罪
- Pinyin: mí tiān dà zuì
- Literal Translation: obscuring, heaven, great, crime
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4