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诸大夫皆曰可杀

諸大夫皆曰可殺
zhūdàfūjiēyuēkěshā
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 all the ministers say he may be put to death
  2. 2 the officials together pronounce him fit to execute
  3. 3 (lit.) all the great officers all say — can kill

Examples

古人讲"诸大夫皆曰可杀"还不够，必须"国人皆曰可杀"。
Gǔrén jiǎng "zhū dàfū jiē yuē kě shā" hái bù gòu, bìxū "guórén jiē yuē kě shā".
The ancients held that the consent of the officials wasn't enough — the whole populace had to agree.
论及民意，孟子举出诸大夫皆曰可杀的例子。
Lùn jí mínyì, Mèngzǐ jǔ chū zhū dàfū jiē yuē kě shā de lìzi.
On the question of popular will, Mencius cited the case where all the officials said the man deserved death.

Tips

history
From 《孟子·梁惠王下》 (Mencius: King Hui of Liang II). In Mencius's escalating test of legitimacy, the ruler must not execute a man just because 『左右皆曰可杀』(the attendants all say so), nor even because 『诸大夫皆曰可杀』(the ministers all say so), but only after 『国人皆曰可杀』(the entire populace says so) — and even then only after personally verifying the charge. A landmark early statement of popular consent in Chinese political thought.
usage
Read as the middle step of Mencius's three-tier procedure. 大夫 here is dàfū (high official), not dàifu (doctor) — the word for doctor is the same characters but stressed differently.

Stroke Order

诸 zhū
大 dà
夫 fū
皆 jiē
曰 yuē
可 kě
杀 shā