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国人杀之也

國人殺之也
guórén shā zhī yě
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 it is the people of the realm who put him to death
  2. 2 the whole nation is the executioner
  3. 3 the country's people kill him

Examples

HSK 7-9
孟子认为只有国人杀之也才算合乎民意的死刑。
Mèngzǐ rènwéi zhǐyǒu guórénshāzhīyě cái suàn héhū mínyì de sǐxíng.
Mencius held that only when the whole populace consented could an execution be said to match the people's will.
HSK 7-9
当事情到了“国人杀之也”的地步，民意已不可违。
Dāng shìqing dào le " guórénshāzhīyě " de dìbù, mínyì yǐ bùkě wéi.
When a matter reaches the point of 'the whole nation demanding his death,' popular will cannot be defied.

Tips

history
From 《孟子·梁惠王下》 (Mencius: King Hui of Liang II). Concludes Mencius's staged procedure: 国人皆曰可杀，然后察之，见可杀焉，然后杀之，故曰国人杀之也 - 'only when the whole populace says to kill him, and you investigate and confirm, should you execute - hence it is said, the nation does the killing.' The line frames capital punishment as an act of the whole polity, not the ruler alone.
usage
也 here is the classical assertive particle (wrapping up the statement), not the modern 'also.' Rarely used outside of quoting or paraphrasing Mencius on popular sovereignty.

Stroke Order

国 guó
人 rén
杀 shā
之 zhī
也 yě