📖 Meaning
Local tyrants and evil gentry — oppressive landlords, rural bullies, and corrupt former officials who used wealth and power to dominate their communities in old China. The term describes those who abuse authority to exploit and oppress ordinary people.
📜 Origin Story
This term was popularized by Mao Zedong's 1927 'Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan.' In it, Mao identified the patriarchal-feudal class of local tyrants and evil gentry, along with lawless landlords, as the foundation of autocratic rule stretching back thousands of years. He argued they served as the base of imperialism, warlordism, and corrupt officialdom. The phrase encapsulates the exploitative rural power structure of pre-liberation China, where wealthy landowners and disgraced officials colluded to oppress peasants.
💡 Example Usage
解放前，土豪劣绅横行乡里，百姓苦不堪言。
Before liberation, local tyrants and evil gentry ran rampant through the countryside, making life unbearable for the common people.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 土豪劣绅
- Pinyin: tǔ háo liè shēn
- Literal Translation: local, tyrant, evil, gentry
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4