📖 Meaning
Both mortals and the gods despise and loathe someone or something, to the point that even heaven cannot tolerate it. It is used to describe extreme popular outrage and resentment against grave wrongdoing, such as tyranny or vicious crimes. The idiom stresses that the offender has so thoroughly alienated everyone that opposition is universal and beyond human scope.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in Yang Yuru's "A Record of the 1911 Revolution" (《辛亥革命著记》), a modern historical work recounting the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911. In Chapter 5, the author condemns the oppressive Qing government in the late years of the dynasty, writing: 'Oppressive governance was as dense as a spider's web, the people were plunged into utter misery, men and gods alike were hated and abhorred, heaven and earth would not tolerate it.' Though the phrase has no ancient classical origin, it was drawn upon as an established literary expression to convey the depth of popular hatred against a tyrannical regime. It is treated as a variant of the parallel idiom 人神共嫉 (or 人神共愤), sharing the same meaning of universal indignation.
💡 Example Usage
此贼祸国殃民，恶贯满盈，人神同嫉，天地难容。
This villain has brought disaster to the country and the people, committing every evil until his crimes were complete, so that both men and gods hate him and heaven and earth cannot tolerate him.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 人神同嫉
- Pinyin: rén shén tóng jí
- Literal Translation: people, gods, together, hate
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4