📖 Meaning
Refers to the absolute power to decide who lives and who dies, and to grant rewards or impose punishments at will. It typically describes the unchecked authority wielded by despotic rulers or tyrants over their subjects.
📜 Origin Story
The concept appears in two pre-Qin philosophical texts. In 'Han Feizi: The Three Handholds' (《韩非子·三守》), the Legalist thinker Han Fei warns that if the power of life and death and reward and punishment falls into the hands of ministers, the ruler will be usurped. Similarly, in 'Xunzi: On the Regulations of a King' (《荀子·王制》), the Confucian philosopher Xunzi argues that rituals, warfare, social rank, and the power over life and death must all be unified under a single sovereign authority. The idiom later appears in the 'Book of Jin' (《晋书》), describing officials who wielded such power at court.
💡 Example Usage
昏君手握生死予夺之权，百姓敢怒不敢言。
The tyrant held the power of life and death and reward and punishment in his hands, and the common people dared not voice their anger.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 生死予夺
- Pinyin: shēng sǐ yǔ duó
- Literal Translation: life, death, give, take
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4