During the final years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial court descended into chaos as powerful nobles and eunuchs colluded, abusing their authority to commit lawless acts, while loyal ministers were frequently framed and pushed aside.
During the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, a low-ranking eunuch named Zhao Jin and a local bully named Zhang Si committed numerous crimes in the region. The emperor, however, issued a decree pardoning them. The Grand Administrator of Taiyuan, Liu, and the Prefect of Nanyang, Cheng Jin, investigated their offenses, deemed them unforgivable, and ignoring the imperial pardon, executed both men to rid the people of these scourges. Meanwhile, the powerful eunuch Hou Lan flagrantly plundered commoners' property, and the magistrate of Xiapi, Xu Xuan, was equally guilty of heinous acts. Two upright officials, Zhai Chao, the Grand Administrator of Shanyang, confiscated Hou Lan's ill-gotten wealth, and Huang Fu, the Chancellor of Donghai, resolutely executed Xu Xuan. Yet the emperor, swayed by slander from sycophants, unjustly sentenced Liu and Cheng Jin to public execution and condemned Zhai Chao and Huang Fu to the punishment of having their heads shaved and wearing iron collars.
This stirred outrage among upright officials. Chen Fan, a famed minister of the Eastern Han Dynasty, repeatedly petitioned the emperor to pardon the four. In his memorial, Chen Fan argued, "Liu Zhi and Cheng Jin executed Zhao Jin and Zhang Si after the amnesty, but their intent was to eliminate evil. Zhai Chao and Huang Fu upheld the law and hated wrongdoing like an enemy. For the lawless eunuch Hou Lan, confiscating his property was already merciful, and Xu Xuan's crimes deserved death many times over."
However, Emperor Huan completely ignored the warnings of Chen Fan and others. Liu Zhi and Cheng Jin, two officials who dared to speak out and fight against evil forces, ultimately died in prison.
Hate, loathe
Source: *Book of the Later Han*, Chapter "Biography of Chen Fan"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "疾恶如仇" came to describe how one should hate evil as if it were an enemy.