横 征 暴 敛

héng zhēng bào liǎndictionary entry

to tax by force and extort levies (idiom) / to screw taxes out of the people by force

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-8f1329c5ad1a3afe. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

橫征暴斂 横征暴敛 [heng2 zheng1 bao4 lian3] /to tax by force and extort levies (idiom); to screw taxes out of the people by force/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 橫征暴斂

横
héng
horizontal / across / crosswise / horizontal stroke (in Chinese characters) / to place (sth) flat (on a surface) / to cross (a river, etc) / in a jumble / chaotic / (in fixed expressions) harsh and unreasonable / violent
hèng
harsh and unreasonable / unexpected
征
zhēng
journey / trip / expedition / to go on long campaign / to attack / to invite / to recruit / to levy (taxes) / to draft (troops) / phenomenon / symptom / characteristic sign (used as proof) / evidence
暴
bào
sudden / violent / cruel / to show or expose / to injure
pù
See the full entry for source details.
Bào
surname Bao
敛
liǎn
(literary) to hold back / (literary) to restrain / to control (oneself) / to collect / to gather / Taiwan pr. [liàn]
liàn
See the full entry for source details.

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.