📖 Meaning
White rice is served to the guest while green hay is fed to the guest's horse. It describes a host who provides meticulous and thoughtful hospitality, attending to every detail including the guest's mounts.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom first appears in Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu's poem 'Presented to Censor Dou, Inspector of the Western Mountains', where he writes of serving wine, white rice to attendants, and green hay to horses. Song Dynasty poet Xin Qiji later echoed it in his lyric 'Xing Xiang Zi', reinforcing the image of generous hospitality. Ming Dynasty scholar Cheng Dengji also cited it in his primer 'You Xue Qiong Lin' under the section on food and drink.
💡 Example Usage
主人白饭青刍，待客极为周到。
The host treated his guest to white rice and fed the horse green hay, showing the utmost hospitality.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 白饭青刍
- Pinyin: bái fàn qīng chú
- Literal Translation: white rice, green hay
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4