只zhǐ許xǔ州zhōu官guān放fàng火huǒ,，不bù許xǔ百bǎi姓xìng點diǎn燈dēng

What does 只許州官放火，不許百姓點燈 (zhǐ xǔ zhōu guān fàng huǒ, bù xǔ bǎi xìng diǎn dēng) mean?

只許州官放火，不許百姓點燈 (zhǐ xǔ zhōu guān fàng huǒ, bù xǔ bǎi xìng diǎn dēng) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "only the magistrate may set fires, but the common people may not light lamps." In use it means: Those in power allow themselves what they forbid to others; hypocrisy enforced by authority. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Monkey.

Literally: "only the magistrate may set fires, but the common people may not light lamps."

The reading

The rule exists, but it does not apply to the person who made it. This is the oldest form of corruption: the double standard that hides behind the uniform. Power that exempts itself from its own rules has already lost its legitimacy. The lamp and the fire are the same flame. Only the hand holding them is different.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusLooks back
• Element火 Fire
• Zodiac tie猴 Year of the Monkey

Source Song dynasty anecdote about the magistrate Tian Deng 田登; widely proverbial

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 Monkey, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.