Basic Info
- Chinese Idiom: 背恩忘义 (Bèi ēn wàng yì)
- Pinyin: bèi ēn wàng yì
- Literal meaning: “To turn one’s back on kindness and forget righteousness.”
(背 = to turn one’s back on / betray; 恩 = kindness / favor / grace; 忘 = to forget; 义 = righteousness / moral obligation)
Also written as “背义忘恩” (bèi yì wàng ēn).
Figurative Definition
It describes someone who betrays the people who have helped them – forgetting the kindness and favors they have received, and acting without any sense of moral obligation or gratitude. It is a strong condemnation of ingratitude and disloyalty, especially toward a benefactor, teacher, employer, or friend who once supported them.
It can describe:
- A subordinate who abandons or turns against a patron when times get hard.
- A friend who forgets past help and acts selfishly.
- Anyone who repays kindness with betrayal – the deepest form of ingratitude.
In short: to turn your back on those who helped you – kindness forgotten, loyalty abandoned.
Cultural & Historical Origin
This idiom comes from the Book of Han · Biography of Zhang Chang (《汉书·张敞传》).
Zhang Chang (张敞) was a Han Dynasty official serving as Magistrate of the Capital Region (京兆尹). He had a subordinate named Xu Shun (絮舜) whom he had long treated well and favored. Xu Shun had received many kindnesses and promotions from him.
Then Zhang Chang was accused of a crime and faced possible dismissal. Xu Shun immediately assumed his patron was finished. He went home and neglected his duties, calling Zhang Chang a “five-day magistrate” (五日京兆) – meaning a lame duck who would be gone within days.
The original text says:
“舜本臣敞素所厚吏，数蒙恩贷，以臣有章劾当免，受记考事，便归卧家，谓臣‘五日京兆’，背恩忘义，伤化薄俗。”
(“Xu Shun was a clerk whom I, Chang, had always treated with favor and who had repeatedly received my kindness and leniency. When a memorial was filed against me and I faced dismissal, he received his assignment but simply went home to lie down, calling me a ‘five-day magistrate’ – turning his back on kindness and forgetting righteousness, damaging morals and thinning the customs.”)
Zhang Chang, before his dismissal took effect, had Xu Shun arrested and executed – a harsh response that the text presents as justified by Xu Shun’s betrayal. The story is a dramatic illustration of how seriously ingratitude was viewed in traditional Chinese moral culture.
Key Lesson
Gratitude is a moral debt – and betrayal of kindness is a serious failing. The idiom teaches that those who forget the help they have received, and turn against their benefactors, deserve condemnation. It also carries a cautionary note about the powerful: Zhang Chang’s execution of Xu Shun for a relatively minor betrayal shows how wounded pride can turn into disproportionate revenge. The wise person remembers kindness, repays it when possible, and – if betrayed – responds with justice, not vengeance.
Cultural Note
In Chinese culture, 恩 (kindness / grace) creates a moral bond that the recipient is expected to honor. “背恩忘义” is one of the strongest condemnations of ingratitude, alongside its near-synonyms “忘恩负义” (wàng ēn fù yì – “to forget kindness and betray righteousness”) and “恩将仇报” (ēn jiāng chóu bào – “to return kindness with enmity”). Its opposites are “感恩戴德” (gǎn ēn dài dé – “to be deeply grateful for kindness”) and “感恩图报” (gǎn ēn tú bào – “to be grateful and seek to repay”).
The idiom reflects the Confucian emphasis on reciprocity – the idea that kindness received must be remembered and returned, and that a person who fails in this duty has lost a fundamental part of their moral standing.
Similar English Expressions
- To bite the hand that feeds you – To turn against someone who has helped you – the closest and most vivid equivalent.
- To turn one’s back on someone – To abandon or betray someone who trusted or helped you.
- Ungrateful / Ingratitude – The core moral failing described by the idiom.
- To betray a benefactor – To turn against someone who supported you.
- To repay kindness with ingratitude – A direct, formal equivalent.
- A thankless wretch – A person who shows no gratitude (literary).
- To be disloyal – Failing in loyalty to someone who deserved it.
- To stab someone in the back – Treacherous betrayal, especially of a friend or ally.
The closest and most natural equivalents are “to bite the hand that feeds you,” “to repay kindness with ingratitude,” and “to betray a benefactor.”
In short, “背恩忘义” means turning one’s back on kindness and forgetting righteousness – a strong Chinese idiom for ingratitude and betrayal of a benefactor, drawn from a Han Dynasty story of a subordinate who abandoned his patron in his hour of need, and a timeless reminder that kindness received creates a moral debt that the honorable person never forgets.
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