家天下

jiātiānxià ㄐㄧㄚ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄒㄧㄚˋ

    • ruler treating the country as family property
    • arbitrary rule favouring relatives and cronies

Character by character

Saying俗语俗語

Idiom惯用语 · Widely known

Literally
the world as one family's home
Meaning
Describes an emperor treating the whole country as his family's private property; by extension, a ruler who acts arbitrarily and favours relatives and cronies. Critical.

Sources