📖 Meaning
To be unable to bear finishing reading something. It describes writing so tragically moving that the reader cannot bring themselves to read it to the end. Commonly used to describe articles or texts with heartbreaking and deeply sorrowful content.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the Qing dynasty work 'Hutian Lu' (壶天录) by Baiyi Jushi of Huaiyin. It records that He Xiaosong, the governor of Fujian, wrote a couplet elegy for his deceased wife. The words were described as 'one word, one tear,' as if weeping and pleading, making the reader unable to bear finishing it. The expression has since been used to describe literary works of devastating emotional power.
💡 Example Usage
读到这封信中字字血泪的控诉，令人不忍卒读。
Reading the accusations in the letter, each word written in blood and tears, one cannot bear to finish it.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 不忍卒读
- Pinyin: bù rěn zú dú
- Literal Translation: not, bear, finish, read
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4