📖 Meaning
To be cast aside, neglected, or deliberately ignored. Originally referring to an imperial consort banished to a remote palace chamber after losing the emperor's favor, it now describes any person, project, or idea that has been shelved and left to languish.
📜 Origin Story
In imperial China, emperors maintained vast harems where consorts competed for favor. When a consort fell out of the emperor's grace — whether due to intrigue, aging, or offending the ruler — she was banished to a remote, sparsely furnished chamber in a neglected corner of the palace complex, known as the 'cold palace' (冷宫). There she lived in isolation, stripped of privileges and attendants, essentially erased from court life. The phrase passed into common usage to describe anything or anyone deliberately sidelined and forgotten.
💡 Example Usage
他的提案被领导打入冷宫，至今无人问津。
His proposal was cast into the cold palace by management, and no one has mentioned it since.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 打入冷宫
- Pinyin: dǎ rù lěng gōng
- Literal Translation: strike, into, cold, palace
- Category: Status
- Characters: 4