📖 Meaning
Refers to incomplete, fragmentary, or damaged books and texts. The image evokes ancient bamboo or wooden slips that have been broken apart, leaving only scattered remnants of what was once a complete work. The idiom is used to describe literary materials that survive only in fragments, or any text that is missing parts and cannot be read in its entirety.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from Yu Xin (庾信) of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (北周, 557–581 CE), in his 'Preface to the Collected Works of Prince Teng' (《谢滕王集序启》). Yu Xin was a prominent poet and official who served both the Liang and Northern Zhou courts. In the preface, he laments his financial hardship and the destruction of literary works, writing that 'broken chapters and fallen slips alike have all turned to dust; red-lined scrolls and blue chests have mostly been reduced to ashes.' The phrase captures the fragility of written knowledge in an era of war and upheaval, when countless texts were lost to fire, decay, and neglect.
💡 Example Usage
他在废纸堆里翻找残篇断简，终于拼凑出那本失传的医书。
He rummaged through piles of scrap paper for broken fragments, and finally pieced together that lost medical text.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 残篇断简
- Pinyin: cán piān duàn jiǎn
- Literal Translation: broken, chapters, severed, slips
- Category: Knowledge
- Characters: 4