📖 Meaning
To persist in wrongdoing for a long time without ever repenting or mending one's ways. It describes someone who has committed evil acts over an extended period yet remains stubbornly unrepentant.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from a Ming dynasty text by the scholar Song Lian, 'Epitaph for Lord Hu' (胡公神道碑铭). Song Lian wrote that if one could abandon rebellion and pledge loyalty, generous pardon would follow; but if one accumulated evil without repenting, once the city fell, it would be too late for regrets. The idiom thus warns of the consequences of persistent unrepented wrongdoing.
💡 Example Usage
此人稔恶不悛，终究难逃法网。
This person persisted in evil without repenting and ultimately could not escape the long arm of the law.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 稔恶不悛
- Pinyin: rěn è bù quān
- Literal Translation: accumulate, evil, not, repent
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4