📖 Meaning
This idiom describes something that is extremely obvious, clear, and undeniable to anyone who observes it. It is typically used of facts, truths, or situations that are so plainly evident that no further proof or argument is needed.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the 'Biography of Bo Yi' in Sima Qian's Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), written during the Western Han Dynasty. In this chapter, Sima Qian reflects on the apparent injustice of Heaven, questioning why virtuous men like Bo Yi and Shu Qi often met tragic ends while wicked men prospered. He singles out such cases as the most glaring and undeniable contradictions of all, using these four characters to stress how plainly evident the injustice is. Over time the phrase came to describe anything so clear that it cannot be disputed.
💡 Example Usage
事实摆在眼前，其中的利害关系已彰明较着，无需再多作辩解。
The facts are right in front of us — the stakes involved are now plain for all to see, and no further defense is needed.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 彰明较着
- Pinyin: zhāng míng jiào zhù
- Literal Translation: manifest, clear, compare, evident
- Category: Clarity
- Characters: 4