📖 Meaning
To act with extreme cruelty, committing deeds that defy heaven and violate the natural order of morality and ethics. It describes behavior so vicious and unjust that it runs counter to the fundamental principles governing the world and human decency.
📜 Origin Story
No specific origin story is documented for this idiom. It is a four-character compound formed by combining 违天 (defy heaven) and 逆理 (violate reason), phrases whose individual elements appear throughout classical Chinese texts, including works from the Spring and Autumn period such as the Zuozhuan. The idiom crystallizes the traditional Confucian worldview that heaven's moral order (天理) is absolute, making any act that defies it among the gravest offenses. Over time it became a standard expression used to condemn the most inhuman and immoral conduct.
💡 Example Usage
他竟做出这种违天逆理的残忍行径，令人发指。
He actually committed such cruel deeds that defy heaven and violate all reason, sending chills down one's spine.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 违天逆理
- Pinyin: wéi tiān nì lǐ
- Literal Translation: violate heaven, defy reason
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4