亂臣賊子

From Mencius:

孔子成《春秋》，而亂臣賊子懼。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]

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孔子成《春秋》，而乱臣贼子惧。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

Kǒngzǐ chéng “chūnqiū”, ér luànchénzéizǐ jù. [Pinyin]

Confucius completed the "Spring and Autumn," and rebellious ministers and villainous sons were struck with terror.

亂臣賊子

1. rebellious minister disloyal to the monarch

   • 《春秋》之義行，則天下亂臣賊子懼焉。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     《春秋》之义行，则天下乱臣贼子惧焉。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     “Chūnqiū” zhī yì xíng, zé tiānxià luànchénzéizǐ jù yān. [Pinyin]

     Had the principles of the Spring and Autumn Annals been carried out, all traitors and evil-doers in the world would tremble in fear.

   • 自書傳所載，亂臣賊子、無道之人，考其禍敗，未有如莽之甚者也。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     自书传所载，乱臣贼子、无道之人，考其祸败，未有如莽之甚者也。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: The Book of Han, circa 1^st century CE

     Zì shūzhuàn suǒ zǎi, luànchénzéizǐ, wúdào zhī rén, kǎo qí huòbài, wèiyǒu rú Mǎng zhī shèn zhě yě. [Pinyin]

     It can be investigated that of all the rebellious ministers and evil sons and of the unprincipled men recorded in books and documents, none of the calamities and ruin they produced were as severe as those caused by Wang Mang.

   • 雖說孔子作《春秋》而亂臣賊子懼，然而現在的人們，卻幾乎誰也不知道一個筆伐了的亂臣賊子的名字。說到亂臣賊子，大概以為是曹操，但那並非聖人所教，卻是寫了小說和劇本的無名作家所教的。 [MSC, trad.]
     虽说孔子作《春秋》而乱臣贼子惧，然而现在的人们，却几乎谁也不知道一个笔伐了的乱臣贼子的名字。说到乱臣贼子，大概以为是曹操，但那并非圣人所教，却是写了小说和剧本的无名作家所教的。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1935 魯迅 (Lu Xun),《在現代中國的孔夫子》

     Suīshuō Kǒngzǐ zuò “Chūnqiū” ér luànchénzéizǐ jù, rán'ér xiànzài de rénmen, què jīhū shéi yě bù zhīdào yīge bǐfá le de luànchénzéizǐ de míngzì. Shuōdào luànchénzéizǐ, dàgài yǐwéi shì Cáocāo, dàn nà bìngfēi shèngrén suǒ jiāo, quèshì xiě le xiǎoshuō hé jùběn de wúmíng zuòjiā suǒ jiāo de. [Pinyin]

     Though (Mencius said) turbulent ministers and treacherous sons were sore afraid when Confucius wrote The Spring and Autumn Annals, nowadays practically no one could tell you the names of those turbulent ministers and treacherous sons who fell to that verbal foray. Mention of “turbulent ministers and treacherous sons” would probably suggest Cao Cao to most people, but that view of him was formed by anonymous authors of novels and plays, not by the sage.