📖 Meaning
To fabricate something entirely out of thin air, with no basis in fact or evidence. It refers to the act of inventing falsehoods, rumors, or accusations without any grounding in reality, purely for one's own purposes.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom first appeared in the Ming Dynasty supplement to the Wanli Yehuo Bian (《万历野获编补遗》) by Shen Defu (沈德符), a late Ming scholar and official. In the section on native chieftain succession, he criticized contemporary forgers who would fabricate hereditary claims out of nothing, bribing clerks in the Ministry of War's Bureau of Appointments to rubber-stamp their fraudulent documents. The phrase described the practice of inventing genealogies and official records with no historical basis whatsoever.
💡 Example Usage
这些指控完全是凭空捏造，毫无事实依据。
These accusations are entirely fabricated out of thin air, with no factual basis whatsoever.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 凭空捏造
- Pinyin: píng kōng niē zào
- Literal Translation: rely on, empty, fabricate, create
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4