📖 Meaning
The idiom derives from the I Ching (易经) principle of assigning numbers to heaven and earth, heaven being three and earth being two. It is extended to mean that a person's virtue and achievements are so great that they can be measured against, or stand on par with, heaven and earth themselves.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase appears in the biography of Sima Xiangru (司马相如列传) in the Records of the Grand Historian (史记), compiled by Sima Qian during the Western Han Dynasty around the 1st century BCE. In the passage, Sima Xiangru praises grand discourse and ambitious plans that establish lasting traditions to serve as rules for ten thousand generations, and urges pondering deeply over 参天贰地 — aligning one's achievements with the scale of heaven and earth. The expression stems from ancient Yi Jing numerology, in which heaven is reckoned as three and earth as two. It is the same as the variant 参天两地.
💡 Example Usage
先生之德参天贰地，后世景仰。
His virtue rivals heaven and earth, and later generations hold him in deep admiration.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 参天贰地
- Pinyin: cān tiān èr dì
- Literal Translation: three heaven, two earth
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4