草芥人命 to treat human lives like weeds
Explanation
形容对人命极其轻视，随意残害。
It describes the extreme contempt and arbitrary killing of human life.
Origin Story
战国时期，秦国大将白起攻破赵国都城邯郸，赵军死伤无数，百姓流离失所。白起下令屠城，将所有抵抗的赵国士兵和百姓全部杀害。这场屠杀持续了数天，鲜血染红了大地，尸体堆积如山。白起对人命的漠视，宛如看待草芥一般，草芥人命，成了他暴行的真实写照。这场惨剧，也成为历史上对人权的严重践踏。白起因此在后世留下了一个残暴不仁的形象，他的暴行也给后人敲响了警钟，提醒着人们要珍爱生命，尊重人权。
During the Warring States period, the Qin general Bai Qi conquered Handan, the capital of the Zhao state, resulting in countless Zhao soldiers' deaths and displacement of civilians. Bai Qi ordered the massacre of the city, killing all the resisting Zhao soldiers and civilians. The massacre lasted for several days, blood staining the ground, and corpses piled up like mountains. Bai Qi's disregard for human life was like treating them as weeds—'treating human life like weeds' became a true portrayal of his atrocities. This tragedy became a serious trampling of human rights in history. Bai Qi thus left behind an image of brutality and inhumanity in later generations; his atrocities also served as a wake-up call, reminding people to cherish life and respect human rights.
Usage
常用于形容统治者残暴不仁，任意屠杀百姓。
Often used to describe the cruelty and inhumanity of rulers and the arbitrary killing of people.
Examples
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面对百姓的疾苦，他却草芥人命，视而不见。
miàn duì bǎixìng de jíkǔ, tā què cǎojiè rénmìng, shì'érbùjiàn
He treated the people's suffering as worthless, ignoring it.
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历史上，许多暴君草芥人命，最终遭到人民的反抗。
lìshǐ shàng, xǔduō bàojūn cǎojiè rénmìng, zuìzhōng zāodào rénmín de fǎnkàng
Throughout history, many tyrants have treated human life as worthless and have ultimately faced rebellion by the people.