天诛地灭 — “To be utterly condemned and destroyed by heaven and earth”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 天诛地灭?

诛：杀死。比喻罪恶深重，为天地所不容。

天诛地灭 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be utterly condemned and destroyed by heaven and earth”. To be damned to perdition for grave wrongdoing. Literally, “Executed by heaven, destroyed by earth”.

Frequency

天诛地灭 Pronunciation and Pinyin

天诛地灭 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
天	tiān	4	sky, heaven, day, nature
诛	zhū	8	execute or punish severely
地	dì	6	earth, ground, land, place
灭	miè	5	extinguish, wipe out

Example Sentence with 天诛地灭

那个无情欺骗并伤害朋友感情的人，其行为真是令人发指，简直天诛地灭。

That person who heartlessly deceived and hurt a friend's feelings, their actions are truly outrageous and deserve universal condemnation.

Origin and Story of 天诛地灭

Once upon a time, a new county magistrate took office. To show the common people that he would uphold justice impartially and remain honest and incorruptible, he specially wrote a couplet on the pillars of the yamen: "If I take one penny, may heaven and earth destroy me; if I show one favor, may I be a thief and a harlot."

However, as time went on, he continued to accept bribes and pervert justice for personal gain.

When someone asked him why, he explained that he meant he wouldn't take *one* penny or show *one* favor, but he never said anything about two, three, four, and so on.