陪葬

• Pinyin: péi zàng
• Hanzi breakdown: 陪 = 阝 + 咅 (stand beside); 葬 = 艹 + 死 + 廾 (grass over a body — burial)

Meaning

Be buried with the deceased; to accompany someone in death by being interred together; historically, objects or people buried with a ruler.

Refers to the ancient practice of burying servants, consorts, or objects with a deceased ruler. In modern usage, used figuratively for being dragged down by someone else's failure — e.g., employees whose careers are ruined by a failed company.

Examples

1. 秦始皇陵出土了大量精美的陪葬品，令世人震惊。 A large number of exquisite burial objects were unearthed from the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, stunning the world.
2. 古代贵族死后，往往会有大量珍贵器物作为陪葬。 After death, ancient nobles were often buried with many precious objects.
3. 他不想因为管理层的决策失误而陪葬，决定提前辞职。 He didn’t want to go down with the ship because of management’s bad decisions, so he decided to resign early.

Usage Guide

Context: history, archaeology, colloquial metaphor

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 考古队在墓室内发掘出数百件陪葬器皿，其工艺水平令专家叹为观止。(The archaeological team unearthed hundreds of burial artefacts from the chamber, the craftsmanship of which left experts in awe.)
• 公司破产后，许多无辜的中层员工被迫为高层的错误决策陪葬，失去了工作。(After the company went bankrupt, many innocent mid-level employees were forced to suffer the consequences of senior management's poor decisions and lost their jobs.)

Don't Say

• 他陪葬了她的婚礼 — use 毁了 or 破坏了 for ruining an event; 陪葬 specifically involves being pulled down in death or ruin, not disrupting a ceremony

Origin & History

陪 (accompany) + 葬 (bury, inter) — to accompany into burial

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal