罔上虐下 — “To deceive one's superiors and oppress one's subordinates”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 罔上虐下?

罔：欺骗；虐：侵害。指瞒上欺下

罔上虐下 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to deceive one's superiors and oppress one's subordinates”. To hoodwink those above and bully those below. Literally, “Deceive above, oppress below”.

Frequency

罔上虐下 Pronunciation and Pinyin

罔上虐下 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
罔	wǎng	8	deceive, none, lost, net
上	shàng	3	up, above, on, previous, ascend
虐	nüè	9	cruel and abusive
下	xià	3	below, down, next, to descend

Example Sentence with 罔上虐下

那个主管为了自己的利益，常常罔上虐下，导致团队士气低落，工作效率也大打折扣。

To serve his own interests, that supervisor often deceived his superiors and oppressed his subordinates, leading to low team morale and significantly reduced work efficiency.

Origin and Story of 罔上虐下

During the Yuan Dynasty, Yelü Chucai, a loyal and people-loving minister, was deeply trusted by the emperor. He opposed the tax collection method where officials calculated tax amounts and merchants bid for contracting tax collection.

He believed that those who offered higher bids would exploit the common people more severely, as they profited precisely by deceiving superiors and oppressing subordinates (罔上虐下). However, the emperor thought that the system had been in place for a long time and could not be changed.