📖 Meaning
To steal property that one has been officially entrusted to guard or manage. It describes an official or custodian who embezzles the very assets placed under their care, violating the trust of their position. The idiom emphasizes the betrayal inherent when a guardian becomes the thief.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Han Shu (Book of Han), specifically the Treatise on Penal Law (刑法志), which records Han dynasty statutes prescribing execution by exposure in the marketplace (弃市) for anyone guarding government property who then steals it. The Tang dynasty scholar Yan Shigu, in his commentary on this passage, clarified that this offense is precisely what the contemporary law termed 主守自盗 (stealing as the responsible custodian). It thus stems from ancient Chinese legal codes concerning official misconduct and breach of trust.
💡 Example Usage
仓库管理员竟然主守自盗，将库中财物据为己有。
The warehouse manager actually stole from his own charge, taking the goods in storage for himself.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 主守自盗
- Pinyin: zhǔ shǒu zì dào
- Literal Translation: master, guard, self, steal
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4