During the Spring and Autumn period, the state of Jin was dominated by three brothers—Xi Qi, Xi Chou, and Xi Yu—who controlled the court. Yet they constantly worried about Sun Bozong, the son of Sun Bojiu, who served as a high-ranking minister. To undermine him, they repeatedly slandered Bozong before the Jin ruler, disparaging his character and sowing discord between the ruler and his minister.
Over time, the ruler of Jin grew suspicious of Bo Zong's loyalty and talent. Seizing on a minor fault, he magnified it into a terrifying crime and ultimately had Bo Zong executed. The case also implicated Luan Fuji, a renowned virtuous minister of Jin. Fearing further persecution, Bo Zong's son, Bo Zhouli, fled to the state of Chu.
At that time, a philosopher of Jin, Han Xianzi, said, "The Xi clan will likely meet with disaster in the end! Good people are the pillars of heaven and earth, yet they repeatedly kill them—what good outcome can there be but ruin?"
Every time Bo Zong went to court, his wife would caution him, "Thieves hate their victims, and the people despise those who lord over them. You love speaking bluntly—it will surely bring disaster." Bo Zong's fate, as his wife had warned, proved her right.
"The idiom 'The Thief Hates the Owner' refers to thieves resenting those they steal from, later used to describe the wicked resenting the upright."
Source: *Zuo Zhuan*, Chapter "The Fifteenth Year of Duke Cheng"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "盗憎主人" came to describe how the wicked resent the upright.