📖 Meaning
This idiom describes a person whose heart is cruel and whose methods are vicious and ruthless. It is used to characterize someone who shows no mercy and employs brutal means to achieve their ends. It is an equivalent form of the more common idiom 心狠手辣.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the historical novel 'Li Zicheng' (《李自成》) by modern author Yao Xueyin. In the first volume, chapter nineteen, it is used to describe a young character named Ke Wang, who is only twenty-two years old yet already surpasses his adoptive father in cruelty and ruthlessness. The novel depicts the peasant uprisings at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and this expression highlights the brutal temperament of certain figures in that turbulent era.
💡 Example Usage
那个盗贼心辣手狠，连老人和小孩都不放过。
That bandit was so ruthless and cruel that he would not even spare the elderly and children.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 心辣手狠
- Pinyin: xīn là shǒu hěn
- Literal Translation: heart, fierce, hand, ruthless
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4