偶语弃市 — “Under a tyrannical rule”

偶语弃市 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Under a tyrannical rule”. Even private conversation or whispering with another person could lead to capital punishment, emphasizing extreme suppression of speech and thought. Literally, “Whispering together, executed in the marketplace”.

Frequency

偶语弃市 Pronunciation and Pinyin

偶语弃市 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
偶	ǒu	11	by chance, pair, spouse, idol
语	yǔ	9	language, speech, words
弃	qì	7	abandon, discard, give up
市	shì	5	market city

Example Sentence with 偶语弃市

在那个对信息管理极为严格的机构里，员工们在私下交流时都万分小心，生怕稍有不慎便会引来麻烦，仿佛置身于偶语弃市的环境中。

In that organization with extremely strict information management, employees were exceedingly cautious even when communicating privately, fearing that the slightest slip-up could lead to trouble, as if they were in an environment where 'private talk led to public punishment'.

Origin and Story of 偶语弃市

In the 34th year of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's reign, adopting the counsel of Prime Minister Li Si, the emperor deemed Chunyu Yue's memorial advocating for the re-establishment of feudal states as private scholarship slandering the imperial court. He then ordered all historical records, except for the 'Qin Ji', to be submitted and burned.

Furthermore, discussions about classics like the 'Book of Songs' and the 'Book of Documents' were strictly forbidden. If anyone was caught engaging in such private conversations, they would be immediately executed and their bodies exposed to the public. This series of events led to the tragic incident of 'burning books and burying scholars alive'.