📖 Meaning
To have reached the end of the road with no way forward. It describes a situation where one has exhausted all options and faces a dead end or imminent downfall. Often used to convey a sense of desperation or finality.
📜 Origin Story
This phrase originates from the 'Biography of Ji Kang' in the Book of Jin (晋书·嵇康传). Ji Kang, a famous scholar of the Wei-Jin period, wrote to his friend Shan Tao, stating that he had already assessed his own situation clearly. He said that if his path were truly exhausted and ended, then so be it, and urged his friend not to wrongfully entangle him in worldly affairs that would lead him to ruin. The phrase has since come to symbolize reaching a point of no return or ultimate desperation.
💡 Example Usage
公司资金链断裂，竞争对手步步紧逼，已是道尽途穷的境地。
With the company's funding chain broken and competitors closing in step by step, it has reached a dead end with no way out.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 道尽途穷
- Pinyin: dào jìn tú qióng
- Literal Translation: road, exhausted, path, dead-end
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4