不平则鸣 — “When faced with injustice or unfair treatment”

不平则鸣 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “When faced with injustice or unfair treatment”. People will inevitably speak out, protest, or voice their discontent. Literally, “If there is injustice, then there will be an outcry”.

Frequency

不平则鸣 Pronunciation and Pinyin

不平则鸣 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
不	bù	4	not
平	píng	5	flat, level, equal, calm
则	zé	6	then, in that case
鸣	míng	8	make sound

Example Sentence with 不平则鸣

他一直相信，面对不公，人们终会不平则鸣，维护自己的权益。

He always believed that when confronted with unfairness, people would eventually speak out to protect their own rights.

Origin and Story of 不平则鸣

During the Tang Dynasty, Meng Dongye, a student of the renowned literary master Han Yu, was highly talented and well-versed in classics and history. However, he remained unrecognized for his abilities until he was 50 years old, when he finally secured a minor official position as the Magistrate of Liyang County. Consequently, he often lamented his lack of opportunities and feeling of being unappreciated.

Han Yu deeply sympathized with his student's plight. When Meng Dongye was about to take up his new post, Han Yu wrote a farewell essay titled "Preface to See Meng Dongye Off" for him.

In this essay, Han Yu expressed a profound observation: "Generally, if things are not balanced or fair, they will make a sound. For instance, plants and trees are ordinarily silent, but they make a sound when stirred by the wind; water is silent, but it makes a sound when agitated by the wind." This philosophical statement encapsulated the idea that suppression or injustice will inevitably lead to an outward expression or outcry.