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国人皆曰可杀

國人皆曰可殺
guórén jiē yuē kě shā
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 the people of the state all say he deserves to die
  2. 2 public opinion unanimously condemns someone to death
  3. 3 Mencius's threshold for judicially putting a minister to death

Examples

HSK 7-9
这个贪官国人皆曰可杀。
Zhège tānguān guórénjiēyuēkěshā.
This corrupt official - everyone in the country says he deserves to die.
HSK 7-9
舆论哗然，几乎到了国人皆曰可杀的程度。
Yúlùn huárán, jīhū dào le guórénjiēyuēkěshā de chéngdù.
Public outrage is so great it has nearly reached the level of 'the whole country says he deserves death.'

Tips

history
From 《孟子·梁惠王下》: 左右皆曰可杀，勿听；诸大夫皆曰可杀，勿听；国人皆曰可杀，然后察之，见可杀焉，然后杀之 - 'If your attendants say he should die, don't listen; if your ministers say so, don't listen; only when all the people of the state say he should die, then investigate and, if it is so, put him to death.' Mencius's test for legitimate capital punishment: overwhelming popular judgment plus due investigation.
usage
Invoked in editorials about heinous cases where public outrage seems unanimous - often to warn against substituting popular fury for due process. Strong rhetorical charge.

Stroke Order

国 guó
人 rén
皆 jiē
曰 yuē
可 kě
杀 shā