📖 Meaning
Literally referring to silk dyed cyan becoming cyan and dyed yellow becoming yellow, then flipping back and forth. It metaphorically describes situations or people that are changeable and inconstant, shifting unpredictably like colors changing in dyeing. The idiom conveys a sense of instability and capriciousness.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from 'Mozi·Suo Ran' (《墨子·所染》) of the Spring and Autumn period, where the philosopher Mozi (墨翟) of the state of Lu, upon seeing silk dyers, sighed: 'Dye it cyan and it becomes cyan; dye it yellow and it becomes yellow.' This illustrated how environment shapes a person. Later, the Southern Dynasties Qi dynasty writer Kong Zhigui (孔稚珪) used the phrase in his famous essay 'Northern Mountain Protest' (《北山移文》), lamenting the inconstancy of a reclusive scholar who flip-flopped between hermit life and officialdom, writing 'How could one expect such inconsistency from beginning to end, the colors flipping and overturning.'
💡 Example Usage
世事苍黄翻覆，谁能料定明日之局。
Worldly affairs shift and change unpredictably; who can foretell tomorrow's outcome?
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 苍黄翻覆
- Pinyin: cāng huáng fān fù
- Literal Translation: dark-blue, yellow, flip, overturn
- Category: Variety
- Characters: 4