有伤风化 (yǒu shāng fēng huà) — harmful to public morals; corrupting public decency (of behavior, media, etc.)

Definition

Formal idiom meaning behavior or content violates accepted public morals. Used in legal, official, and media contexts, not everyday speech.

idiom
harmful to public moralscorrupting public decency (of behavior, media, etc.)

Examples

  • 有伤风化，。
    Zhè zhǒng diàn yǐng bèi rèn wéi yǒu shāng fēng huà, bú yīng gāi shàng yìng.
    This kind of movie is considered harmful to public morals and should not be released.
  • 有伤风化。
    Tā yīn wèi zhì zuò yǒu shāng fēng huà de zuò pǐn ér bèi bǔ le.
    He was arrested for producing works that corrupt public decency.
  • 有伤风化。
    Shè huì shàng duì yǒu shāng fēng huà de xíng wéi yuè lái yuè zhòng shì.
    Society pays more and more attention to behavior that harms public morals.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 傷; 伤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
𥏻
𥏻𥏻傷shāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傷 shows 人, a person, and uses 𥏻 to give the sound; the simplified 伤 is a later shorthand.

Open 伤 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

Open 化 →

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