zuò​yǒng

to make burial figurines

Senses

作俑 zuò​yǒng to make burial figurines

(literary) to manufacture human figurines for burial with the dead as sacrificial substitutes

作俑 zuò​yǒng to initiate a bad practice

(figurative) to set a bad precedent or initiate a wicked practice

References

see 作俑/作俑 始作俑者/始作俑者