欲加之罪,何患無辭

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Chinese

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desire; longing; appetite
desire; longing; appetite; wish
 
to add; plus 's; him/her/it; this
guilt; crime; fault
guilt; crime; fault; blame; sin
 
carry; what; how
carry; what; how; why; which
 
misfortune; suffer (from illness); trouble
misfortune; suffer (from illness); trouble; danger; worry; to contract (a disease)
 
not have
bid farewell; diction; resign
bid farewell; diction; resign; say goodbye; take leave; decline
 
trad. (欲加之罪,何患無辭)
simp. (欲加之罪,何患无辞)
alternative forms 欲加之罪,何患無詞欲加之罪,何患无词

Etymology

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From Zuo Zhuan (《左傳·僖公十年》):

四月,周公忌父、王子黨,隰朋,里克里克,公使:「不及雖然大夫?」:「何以欲加之罪,無辭。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
四月,周公忌父、王子党,隰朋,里克里克,公使:「不及虽然大夫?」:「何以欲加之罪,无辞。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Xià, sìyuè, Zhōu Gōng Jìfù, wángzǐ dǎng, huì Qí Xí Péng, lì Jìn Hóu. Jìn Hóu shā Lǐ Kè yǐ shuì. Jiāng shā Lǐ Kè, Gōng shǐ wèi zhī yuē: “Wēi zǐ zé bùjí cǐ. Suīrán, zǐ shì èr jūn yǔ yī dàfū, wéi zǐ jūn zhě, bù yì nán hū?” Duì yuē: “Bù yǒu fèi yě, jūn héyǐ xīng? Yù jiā zhī zuì, qí wú cí hū? Chén wén mìng yǐ.” Fú jiàn ér sǐ. [Pinyin]
In summer, in the 4th month, Jifu, duke of Zhou (w:zh:周公忌父), and Dang, son of king Xi(?), joined Xi Peng (w:zh:隰朋) of Qi in securing the establishment of the marquis of Jin, who put to death Li Ke (里克) to clear himself of any complicity with him in the murders which he had committed. When he was about to put him to death, he sent a message to him, saying, "But for you, I should not have attained to my present position; but considering that you murdered two marquises and one great officer, is it not a difficult thing to be your ruler?" Ke replied, "If others had not been removed, how could you have found room to rise? But if you wish to make out a man's guilt, there is no difficulty in finding ground to do so. I have heard your command." With this he cut his own throat, and died.

Pronunciation

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Proverb

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欲加之罪,何患無辭

  1. If you want to convict someone, there is no need to worry about making a suitable pretext.
  2. If you want to find a fault of someone, there is no need to worry about making a suitable pretext.