📖 Meaning
To implicate widely, dragging in numerous people through guilt by association. The imagery evokes tree roots spreading underground and vines creeping outward, suggesting far-reaching and indiscriminate punishment.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the History of Ming (明史), in the biography of the treacherous official Hu Weiyong (胡惟庸). During the early Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongwu (Zhu Yuanzhang) discovered Hu Weiyong's alleged rebellion and flew into a rage, purging the rebel faction. Over thirty thousand people implicated by testimony were executed. The emperor compiled the 'Records Displaying the Treacherous Party' (昭示奸党录) and proclaimed it throughout the empire. The widespread implicating and vine-like spreading of accusations continued for several years without resolution.
💡 Example Usage
这桩大案株连蔓引，数百无辜之人惨遭牵连。
In this major case, the guilt-by-association spread like vines, implicating hundreds of innocent people.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 株连蔓引
- Pinyin: zhū lián màn yǐn
- Literal Translation: stump, link, vine, draw
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4