📖 Meaning
This idiom refers to incestuous sexual relations between people of different generations. In classical usage, 焌 (zhēng) denotes a younger man having relations with an older woman, while 报 (bào) denotes an older man having relations with a younger woman. Together the phrase broadly condemns any violation of generational moral boundaries.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom traces to the Zuo Zhuan (左传), a chronicle of the Spring and Autumn period. In the record of Duke Huan's sixteenth year, Duke Xuan of Wei (卫宣公) had an illicit relationship with Yi Jiang (夷姜). Separately, the record of Duke Xuan's third year recounts that Duke Wen of Zheng (文公) took the wife of a Zheng noble as his own. These scandals of rulers breaching generational propriety became the classical exemplars behind the phrase.
💡 Example Usage
至如上焌下报，同人道于禽兽。
As for such incestuous relations, they reduce human conduct to the level of beasts.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 上焌下报
- Pinyin: shàng zhēng xià bào
- Literal Translation: above, steam; below, repay
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4