📖 Meaning
Literally dining on wind and swallowing dew, this idiom describes enduring the hardships of travel or life in the open. It conveys braving harsh weather and rough conditions on a long journey, with no shelter or proper food. It is often used to praise someone's perseverance or to recount the difficulty of an expedition.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the Qing dynasty writer Xuan Ding's collection of strange tales, Ye Yu Qiu Deng Lu (Lamp Records on an Autumn Night's Rain), in the story Qing Tian Bai Ri (Broad Daylight). The original text reads, Can feng yan lu, ba she ben bo — eating wind and swallowing dew, trekking and rushing about — describing a character's arduous journey. Xuan Ding (fl. late 19th century) was known for tales of the supernatural and of righteous figures enduring hardship. The imagery builds on a much older trope of immortals and wanderers subsisting on wind and dew, which Qing writers applied to ordinary travelers' suffering.
💡 Example Usage
考察队餐风咽露，深入沙漠腹地寻找水源。
Braving the elements, the expedition team pressed deep into the heart of the desert in search of water.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 餐风咽露
- Pinyin: cān fēng yàn lù
- Literal Translation: eat wind, swallow dew
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4