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病民害国

病民害國
bìngmínhàiguó
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to harm the people and damage the country
  2. 2 to bring ruin on people and state

Examples

这种贪污腐败的行为简直是病民害国。
Zhè zhǒng tānwū fǔbài de xíngwéi jiǎnzhí shì bìng mín hài guó.
This kind of corrupt behavior is nothing short of harming the people and damaging the country.
历史上有不少病民害国的奸臣。
Lìshǐ shàng yǒu bù shǎo bìng mín hài guó de jiānchén.
History has had plenty of treacherous officials who brought ruin on people and state.

Tips

history
Attested in 严复 (Yán Fù, the Qing-era translator of Adam Smith and T. H. Huxley) in his essay 《救亡决论》 (Jiùwáng juélùn, On Saving the Nation): 自亏自损，病民害国 ('self-injuring and self-diminishing, harming the people and damaging the state'). The idiom has been a standard term of denunciation for corrupt officials and harmful policies ever since.
grammar
Parallel structure: 病民 (bìng mín, harm-people) + 害国 (hài guó, damage-country). Both 病 and 害 here are verbs meaning 'to harm.' This V+O / V+O symmetry is the backbone of countless four-character expressions — once you spot the pattern, parsing them gets much easier.

Stroke Order

病 bìng
民 mín
害 hài
国 guó