Chinese idiom · 成语
无中生有
Meaning
To create something from nothing; to fabricate.
Character by character
Origin and story
philosophical sayingChapter 40 of the Laozi (老子) says that the myriad things arise from being, and being arises from nonbeing. It places this statement beside the ideas of reversal and weakness as features of the Way. The passage is a compressed account of how existence relates to its source, not an instruction to deceive people.
The later idiom draws on that contrast between absence and presence. Its common negative meaning, however, makes a different claim: someone invents an event or accusation that has no basis in fact. This accusatory use is already visible in works such as Shuihu Zhuan. Distinguishing the philosophical image from the later everyday charge avoids making Laozi sound as though he were recommending fabrication.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
我根本没说过要辞职，别无中生有。
I never said I was going to resign—don't make things up.
Usually critical in conversation: inventing a story, accusation, or supposed fact.