皮开肉绽

Origin and story

This is a direct, graphic description: skin has broken open and flesh is torn. A documented occurrence is in the anonymous Yuan play Yan'an Fu, where a character speaks of being beaten and kneeling before the steps with severe wounds. The wording is part of the play's depiction of punishment, not an independent fable explaining how the expression was invented.

Later fiction uses it similarly. In chapter forty-three of The Scholars, a boat's helmsman suffers a severe beating. Such examples establish its force: it describes serious visible injuries, and should not be treated as a mild synonym for discomfort or an ordinary bruise.