to wrong; to treat unjustly; to accuse an innocent person of a crime or mistake

to distort, break, or circumvent the law for personal gain or based on personal feelings

futile or purposeless; to no avail; without achieving any results

corruption and abuse of the law; to take bribes and pervert justice, typically said of officials

to waste something such as energy, effort, or breath; to try in vain

to overcorrect; to overcompensate; to go to the other extreme while trying to fix a mistake; literally means to straighten a crooked thing so much that it bends the other way

An unnecessarily long way; a pointless trip or detour that could have been avoided.

to die as a victim of a miscarriage of justice, from a false accusation, or in a meaningless and tragic way; to be wronged and driven to death

to waste one's efforts on a scheme; to plot in vain; to exhaust one's ingenuity to no avail

to do something without any effect or purpose; in vain; for nothing

(literary) used as a polite way to say someone has honored the speaker by coming to visit

to twist or break the law to favor one's relatives, friends, or associates

to break the law to favor one's friends or family; to pervert justice for personal reasons

To render an unfair or incorrect legal judgment by twisting the law

(literary) a polite expression used when someone visits, implying that the visitor has lowered themselves or gone to great trouble to come; also used as a request asking someone to visit

unjust treatment or mistreatment that one is forced to endure despite being innocent or undeserving

To intentionally frame someone, treat them unjustly, or destroy their reputation through false accusations

to waste one's efforts and mental energy; to go to great trouble to no avail

to treat unjustly; to wrong someone or falsely accuse them

to waste many words to no avail; to talk in vain without achieving any results

to compromise on small points in order to achieve a major goal; to make a small sacrifice to gain a larger benefit; to gamble a little to gain much

To not do something in vain; to live up to; to not be a waste of

To feel that one's life has been worthwhile or that one has not wasted their time on earth.

Money spent unnecessarily or on something not worth the expense; pointless expenditure

to twist or violate the law out of personal favoritism or to help someone close

A person who does not avenge an injustice is no gentleman, and one who does not redress a wrong is not worth being called a man.

to waste one's effort; to work hard without any result

to engage in harmful talk, gossip, or slander; to spread malicious rumors

to spread rumors or engage in malicious gossip; to make unfounded accusations; literally to twist the mouth and pull out the tongue

to wrong someone or treat them unjustly; to cause someone to suffer a grievance

To try to reform or correct others despite one's own behavior being improper or dishonest; based on a passage in Mencius stating that one cannot straighten others by being crooked oneself

a winding lane or crooked path

tumultuous; disorderly

to break the law and twist the truth; to prevent justice from being served by acting unfairly

to prevent disaster by taking early measures; literally to bend the chimney and move the firewood to prevent a fire

to waste one's time and effort on calculations or schemes to no avail; to rack one's brains only to end up with nothing

(literary) To take a detour or go out of one's way to visit somewhere

(idiom) to abandon one's principles or distort the truth in order to curry favor or serve others

Do not treat an innocent person unjustly, and do not let a criminal escape punishment.

to correct a wrong with too much force so that the result is just as bad as the original; to overcompensate