📖 Meaning
Literally to lack the magic skill of turning iron into gold. It is a metaphor for having no good way to raise money or relieve poverty. It describes a situation where funds are urgently needed but no source of them can be found.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from a memorial to the throne by the Ming dynasty official and scientist Xu Guangqi, titled 'Gongcheng Xinming Jinchen Jiqie Shiyi Shu' (恭敬地接受新任命并陈述紧急事务的奏疏). In it Xu Guangqi reported that the fighting in the Liaodong region required immeasurable military pay and that the Ministry of Revenue, responsible for state finances, was at its wits' end. He wrote that even though he kept asking for more funds, he truly had no magic art of turning iron into gold, candidly admitting his helplessness in the face of the empire's financial crisis.
💡 Example Usage
眼看工程资金缺口越来越大，他纵有千般打算，也觉点金乏术。
Watching the project's funding gap grow ever wider, even with a thousand plans in mind, he felt powerless to produce money from thin air.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 点金乏术
- Pinyin: diǎn jīn fá shù
- Literal Translation: touch, gold, lack, skill
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4