焚書坑儒 fén shū kēng rú

DEFINITIONS

  1. to burn the Confucian classics and bury alive the Confucian scholars (acts supposedly committed by the first emperor 秦始皇[Qin2 Shi3 huang2])

CHARACTERS

焚 fén burn
書 shū book, letter, document; writings
坑 kēng pit, hole; bury, trap; harry
儒 rú Confucian scholar