📖 Meaning
Literally describes prisoners clad in red convict garments choking the roads. It depicts a society overrun with criminals or suffering under harsh governance where masses of people have been convicted and imprisoned.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom comes from the 'Treatise on Punishment and Law' (刑法志) in the Book of Han (汉书), compiled by the Eastern Han historian Ban Gu. It portrays the social chaos following the fall of the Qin dynasty, when draconian laws and severe punishments led to mass imprisonment. In ancient China, convicted criminals were forced to wear ochre-red clothing as a mark of disgrace, so the image of red-clothed prisoners filling the roads vividly symbolized the collapse of order under tyrannical rule.
💡 Example Usage
秦朝法令严苛，百姓稍有触犯便被定罪，一时间赭衣塞路。
The laws of the Qin dynasty were so harsh that commoners were convicted for the slightest offense, and for a time prisoners in red garments filled the roads.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 赭衣塞路
- Pinyin: zhě yī sàī lù
- Literal Translation: ochre-red garments, block, road
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4