📖 Meaning
A phrase referring to very coarse and poor food. It uses bland rice and yellow pickled vegetable paste (黄齑) to symbolize the frugal, humble diet of the impoverished. Often used to depict a life of austerity or poverty.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no single definitive origin story but is a recurring literary phrase in classical Chinese texts. 黄齑 refers to a yellow pickled condiment made from finely chopped vegetables, a staple of commoners and poor scholars in ancient China. The pairing of 淡饭 with 黄齑 evokes the typical fare of those living in hardship. It appears in vernacular fiction and essays of the Ming and Qing dynasties as a stock image of austere living.
💡 Example Usage
他一生清贫，每日淡饭黄齑，从不抱怨。
He lived his life in poverty, eating only coarse rice and pickled vegetables every day, yet never once complained.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 淡饭黄齑
- Pinyin: dàn fàn huáng jī
- Literal Translation: bland rice, yellow pickled vegetables
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4