📖 Meaning
To strike the ground and cry out to heaven. It describes someone in extreme grief or anguish, wailing and pounding the earth in despair. The idiom vividly portrays overwhelming sorrow that cannot be contained.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Ming Dynasty text 'Wenzhong Gong Xingshi' (A Record of the Life of Lord Wenzhong), compiled by Zhang Jingxiu and others. It describes a scene of profound mourning and despair, where the grieving person flung themselves to the ground and cried out to heaven, nearly unable to go on living. The work recounts events surrounding a prominent official, using this expression to convey the depths of sorrow felt at a tragic loss.
💡 Example Usage
听闻噩耗，老母亲触地号天，悲痛欲绝。
Upon hearing the devastating news, the old mother pounded the ground and wailed to the heavens, overcome with grief.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 触地号天
- Pinyin: chù dì hào tiān
- Literal Translation: touch, ground, howl, sky
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4