敲诈勒索 qiāo zhà lè suǒ extortion

Explanation

依仗权势或抓住别人的把柄，用威胁手段逼取财物。

To extort money or property from others by using threats or taking advantage of their weaknesses.

Origin Story

话说在明朝嘉靖年间，有一个贪婪的县令，名叫张知县，他每天都想着如何搜刮民脂民膏。他经常以各种理由盘剥百姓，甚至对一些穷苦人家也毫不留情。张知县有一次巡察到一个村庄，看到村里有一个老农家里有一些粮食，便上前敲诈勒索。老农苦苦哀求，说自己家中只有这些粮食，用来度过寒冬，张知县却置之不理，强行带走了老农大部分的粮食。老农无奈之下，只好含泪答应。张知县的所作所为很快传遍了整个县城，百姓们对他恨之入骨，却又无可奈何。后来，这个张知县最终受到了惩罚，被革职查办，他的恶行也成为了人们口口相传的反面教材。

huà shuō zài míng cháo jiā jìng nián jiān, yǒu yīgè tānlán de xiàn lìng, míng jiào zhāng zhī xiàn, tā měi tiān dōu xiǎng zhe rúhé sōu guā míng zhī mín gāo. tā jīng cháng yǐ gè zhǒng lǐyóu pán bō bǎixìng, shèn zhì duì yīxiē qióng kǔ rén jiā yě háo bù liú qíng. zhāng zhī xiàn yǒu yī cì xún chá dào yīgè cūn zhuāng, kàn dào cūn lǐ yǒu yīgè lǎo nóng jiā lǐ yǒu yīxiē liáng shí, biàn shàng qián qiāo zhà lè suǒ. lǎo nóng kǔ kǔ āi qiú, shuō zìjǐ jiā zhōng zhǐ yǒu zhèxiē liáng shí, yòng lái dù guò hán dōng, zhāng zhī xiàn què zhì zhī bù lǐ, qiáng xíng dài zǒu le lǎo nóng dà bù fèn de liáng shí. lǎo nóng wú nài zhī xià, zhǐ hǎo hán lèi dā yīng. zhāng zhī xiàn de suǒ zuò suǒ wéi hěn kuài chuán biàn le zhěng gè xiàn chéng, bǎixìng men duì tā hèn zhī rù gǔ, què yòu wú kě nài hé. hòu lái, zhège zhāng zhī xiàn zuì zhōng shòu dào le chéng fá, bèi gé zhí chá bàn, tā de è xíng yě chéng wéi le rén men kǒu kǒu chuán chuán de fǎn miàn jiào cái.

In the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, there was a greedy county magistrate named Zhang. Every day, he wondered how to exploit the people. He often extorted the people for various reasons, and even showed no mercy to the poor people. Once, when Zhang was inspecting a village, he saw an old farmer with some grain in his house, so he went up and extorted him. The old farmer begged bitterly, saying that he only had this grain to get through the winter, but Zhang ignored him and forcibly took away most of the farmer's grain. The old farmer, having no choice, had to agree with tears in his eyes. Zhang's actions quickly spread throughout the county, and the people hated him deeply, but there was nothing they could do. Later, this Zhang magistrate was finally punished, removed from his post, and his evil deeds became a negative textbook passed down from generation to generation.

Usage

作谓语、定语；指用威胁手段逼取财物

zuò wèiyǔ, dìngyǔ; zhǐ yòng xié pò shǒuduàn bī qǔ cáiwù

Used as a predicate or attributive; refers to extorting money or property by threats.

Examples

• 官府对百姓敲诈勒索，民不聊生。

  guǎnfǔ duì bǎixìng qiāo zhà lè suǒ, mín bù liáo shēng

  The government extorted the people, and the people were miserable.

• 地主对佃户敲诈勒索，无恶不作。

  dìzhǔ duì diànhù qiāo zhà lè suǒ, wú è bù zuò

  The landlord extorted his tenant farmers and committed all kinds of evil deeds..

Related Idioms

• 勒索

• 敲诈

Opposite Idioms

• 施舍

• 捐赠