州官放火 — “One rule for the powerful, another for the common people”

州官放火 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “one rule for the powerful, another for the common people”. Double standards and hypocrisy, where those in authority can commit misdeeds while forbidding minor actions from others. Literally, “Magistrates set fires”.

Frequency

州官放火 Pronunciation and Pinyin

州官放火 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
州	zhōu	6	ancient administrative division
官	guān	8	official, organ
放	fàng	8	release, let go, put
火	huǒ	4	fire, urgent, popular

Example Sentence with 州官放火

公司老板可以随意迟到早退，却严格要求员工遵守打卡时间，这简直是“州官放火”。

The company boss can come and go as he pleases, but strictly demands employees adhere to punching in and out times; this is simply a case of "the magistrate setting fires."

Origin and Story of 州官放火

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Tian Deng, the prefect of a zhou (an administrative division), was a despotic and overbearing man. Since his name was 'Deng', he decreed that no one in his jurisdiction was allowed to use any word that sounded like 'Deng', or face punishment.

During the Lantern Festival, it was customary to set off fireworks and light lamps (diǎn dēng) for three days. The official responsible for posting notices, to avoid violating the taboo, had no choice but to write: 'This prefecture will, as per custom, 'set fires' (fàng huǒ) for three days.'

Outsiders, upon hearing this ridiculous decree, left this troublesome area in droves.