During the Western Han Dynasty, in Zhi County of Henei (modern-day Jiyuan, Henan), there lived a man named Guo Jie. In his youth, he frequently engaged in robbery and murder, repeatedly breaking the law, but thanks to the many people who shielded him, he managed to evade capture.
Later, Guo Jie realized that a life of constant violence was unsustainable, so he reformed himself, appearing in the neighborhood as a philanthropist who often helped others without regard for personal gain. Over time, he earned widespread praise, his reputation grew, and many outlaws came to seek his shelter and protection. Guo Jie welcomed them all without refusal.
In 127 BC, Emperor Wu of Han ordered all powerful clans and wealthy families with assets over three million coins to relocate to Maoling, north of Chang'an. Though Guo Jie's wealth fell short of that threshold, his influence was so formidable that he too was forced to move.
The local officials were at a loss, so Guo Jie sent someone to General Wei Qing to pull strings. Wei Qing then reported to the emperor, saying Guo Jie was too poor to qualify for relocation. But Emperor Wu retorted, "A commoner who can command a general is hardly poor."
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Unexpectedly, Guo Xie's nephew killed that official the very same day. Soon after, the official's father was also assassinated. The official's family then sent a messenger to the capital to submit a petition, but the messenger was murdered along the way.
When Emperor Wu learned of this, he flew into a rage and immediately ordered Guo Jie's arrest, sending an envoy to Zhi County to investigate his crimes. The envoy summoned a group of locals for discussion; some praised Guo Jie as a virtuous man who had benefited the village, but a Confucian scholar countered that he was cunning and unworthy of the title "worthy." The next morning, the scholar was found dead in the street, his tongue cut out.
The investigating officials linked several murder cases and interrogated Guo Jie, who firmly denied any involvement. Unable to find conclusive evidence, they had no choice but to petition the emperor for his release.
Imperial Censor-in-Chief Gongsun Hong reviewed the report and argued, "Although Guo Jie did not personally commit these murders, tracing back to the root, the disaster stems from him. His crime is greater than the killers'—he deserves death." Insisting on this reasoning, Gongsun Hong ultimately had Guo Jie and his entire family executed.
Ban Gu, a historian of the Eastern Han Dynasty, remarked that a petty man like Guo Jie, who wielded the power to kill at will, "deserved a punishment worse than death." Later, people used the idiom "death is too good for him" to describe someone whose crimes are so heinous that execution is insufficient.
Source: *Book of Han*, Preface "Biographies of Wandering Knights"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "罪不容诛" came to describe how someone whose crimes are so heinous that execution is insufficient.