When it comes to the word "beast", it is difficult for anyone to have a good feeling about these four words. Usually this idiom is used to refer to morally corrupt people, saying that some people have the appearance of people, wear human clothes, but do bad things that are inferior to animals!
In fact, in the original meaning of this idiom was not so, the crown of animals originated from the costumes of Ming dynasty officials. At that time, the crown was valued by the ruling class as a symbol of power. In the official uniform, birds and beasts are used to show the rank of civil and military officials, and the hierarchy is reflected in the official uniform!
According to the ming and qing dynasty history books, civilian officials and officials embroidered birds, military officers and officials dressed as beasts! Moreover, the rank is strict and not pleasant, and the beasts on the crown correspond to the ranks of civil and military officials one by one! The specific regulations are: civil officials one pin embroidered crane, two pin embroidered brocade chicken, three pin embroidered peacock four pin embroidered swallow, five pin embroidered white oriole six pin embroidered Ruth, seven pin embroidered Mandarin duck eight pin nine pin embroidered quail! Military attache one product two products painted lion, three products painted tiger, four products painted leopard, five products painted bear, six pin seven painted Biao, eight pin painted rhinoceros, nine pin painted seahorse!
Civil and military officials wear red robes for one to four pins, five to seven pins wear green robes, and eight pins and nine pins wear green robes! Only officials can wear the official uniforms of seedlings and animals and enjoy certain treatment, so the dressed animals and beasts are a positive word, with the envy and admiration of the common people!
As a derogatory term, it first appeared in the book "The Book of the Golden Lotus" written by Chen Ruyuan in the late Ming Dynasty! Because in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, eunuchs monopolized power, corrupt civilian officials in the official field loved money, and the military generals were afraid of death and oppressed the people, and they did no evil and did nothing, and their reputation was disgraced! The common people do not have a good life, and regard those who wear official uniforms as bandits and spies on the plague gods, so the term "clothed animals and beasts" begins to have a pejorative meaning, and the common people will do evil and morally corrupt civil and military officials are called clothed beasts!