📖 Meaning
Describes a person whose political power and influence are so immense that they seem to overwhelm the entire realm. It conveys the image of authority so vast that even the natural order of the world bends before it.
📜 Origin Story
Although no single classical text is definitively cited as the source of this idiom, it emerged from the language of court politics in imperial China, particularly during the Han and Tang dynasties. The phrase was used to describe powerful ministers, regents, or warlords whose authority eclipsed even that of the emperor. Historical figures such as Dong Zhuo at the end of the Eastern Han and An Lushan during the Tang dynasty were often described with similar phrasing, as their influence destabilized the central government. The idiom thus crystallized a recurring theme in Chinese political history: the danger of unchecked power in the hands of a single subject.
💡 Example Usage
他权倾天下数十年，最终还是被时间和无常击败了。
He held supreme power over the realm for decades, yet in the end he was still defeated by time and impermanence.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 权倾天下
- Pinyin: quán qīng tiān xià
- Literal Translation: power, overturn, heaven, under
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4