📖 Meaning
An idiom referring to the facts or the rights and wrongs of a situation. When used in the negative (e.g., 不分青红皂白, 'without distinguishing blue from red, black from white'), it means acting recklessly or making judgments without first understanding the truth of the matter.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase appears in various forms in vernacular literature of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It draws on the ancient Chinese color system, where 青 (blue/green), 红 (red), 皂 (black), and 白 (white) represented the most fundamental color distinctions. The idiom uses these basic color categories as a metaphor for the fundamental facts or truth of a situation — just as one would distinguish one color from another, one should distinguish right from wrong before acting. A notable early usage appears in the Ming dynasty novel 'Water Margin' (水浒传), where characters are described as acting without distinguishing 青红皂白.
💡 Example Usage
他连事情的原委都没搞清楚，就不分青红皂白地把人训斥了一顿。
He hadn't even figured out what happened before he started chewing people out, making no distinction between right and wrong.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 青红皂白
- Pinyin: qīng hóng zào bái
- Literal Translation: blue, red, black, white
- Category: Clarity
- Characters: 4