📖 Meaning
This idiom describes an innocent person being wrongfully tortured and forced to confess to a crime they did not commit. It highlights a grave miscarriage of justice where physical abuse coerces a false admission of guilt. The phrase is commonly used to denounce abusive interrogation practices and unjust convictions.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Yuan dynasty anonymous play 'Zheng Bao En' (争报恩, 'Repaying Kindness'), Act 3, where the text states that a woman is dragged to court and subjected to repeated harsh interrogations until she is beaten into a false confession. The scene dramatizes the cruelty of corrupt judicial procedures in which torture replaces evidence. Over time, the expression became a standard criticism of coerced confessions and wrongful convictions throughout Chinese history.
💡 Example Usage
古代官府常对犯人屈打成招，造成许多冤假错案。
In ancient times, government authorities often tortured suspects into false confessions, leading to numerous unjust and wrongful convictions.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 屈打成招
- Pinyin: qū dǎ chéng zhāo
- Literal Translation: wronged, beaten, become, confess
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4