多duō行xíng不bù義yì必bì自zì斃bì

What does 多行不義必自斃 (duō xíng bù yì bì zì bì) mean?

多行不義必自斃 (duō xíng bù yì bì zì bì) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "those who do much injustice will surely destroy themselves." In use it means: Sustained wrongdoing is self-defeating; evil actions accumulate until they collapse under their own weight. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Metal note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Rooster.

Literally: "those who do much injustice will surely destroy themselves."

The reading

The first injustice was free. The second was cheaper. By the hundredth, the person doing them has built a structure so top-heavy with wrongs that it no longer needs an enemy. It falls on its own. Destruction that looks like punishment from outside is usually engineering failure from inside.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element金 Metal
• Zodiac tie雞 Year of the Rooster

Source Zuozhuan 左傳, Yin Gong 隱公 1st year

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Harmony, Virtue & Balance, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Rooster, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.