好善嫉恶 — “To admire goodness and detest wickedness”

好善嫉恶 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to admire goodness and detest wickedness”. To cherish virtue and abhor evil. Literally, “Love good, hate evil”.

Frequency

好善嫉恶 Pronunciation and Pinyin

好善嫉恶 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
好	hào	6	good, well, okay, very
善	shàn	12	good kind skillful
嫉	jí	13	be jealous or envious
恶	è	10	evil, bad, wicked

Example Sentence with 好善嫉恶

他从小就培养了好善嫉恶的品德，总是乐于助人，对不公平的事情绝不姑息。

He cultivated the virtue of loving good and hating evil from a young age, always willing to help others and never tolerating injustice.

Origin and Story of 好善嫉恶

During the mid-Tang Dynasty, the Tubo (Tibetan Empire) from the Western Regions eagerly sought to invade the Central Plains. However, they were unable to succeed due to Li Sheng's tenacious resistance.

Jiezan, the Tubo prime minister, employed a stratagem of sowing discord. He personally led a large army to invade Longzhou and Fengxiang, but was defeated by Li Sheng.

Jiezan then feigned a peace proposal. Emperor Dezong of Tang used this as an excuse to relieve Li Sheng of his military command.

Others seized the opportunity to complain on his behalf, but Li Sheng, being inherently good and hating evil, was unwilling to form factions.