📖 Meaning
A metaphor for two people who are fundamentally incompatible and cannot get along with each other. Ice is cold and charcoal is hot, so they cannot coexist harmoniously — likened to personalities or views that clash entirely.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Warring States period text Han Feizi, specifically the chapter 'Xian Xue' (Eminent Learning) by the Legalist philosopher Han Fei. Han Fei wrote that ice and charcoal cannot long be kept in the same vessel, just as cold and heat cannot arrive at the same time, using this to argue that contradictory teachings cannot jointly govern a state. Over time the metaphor narrowed to describe interpersonal incompatibility.
💡 Example Usage
两人的性格冰炭不投，合作不到一周便分道扬镳了。
Their personalities were completely incompatible, and they parted ways less than a week into their collaboration.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 冰炭不投
- Pinyin: bīng tàn bù tóu
- Literal Translation: ice, charcoal, not, fit
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4