始作俑者

shǐ zuò yǒng zhě

lit. the first person to make funerary figurines (idiom)

fig. the originator of an evil practice

始

shǐ

to begin

作

zuò

to do; to engage in

俑

yǒng

wooden figures buried with the dead

者

zhě

(after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ...