📖 Meaning
Literally placing a bed on top of a bed and building a roof under a roof. It describes redundant, repetitive actions or overly cumbersome structures. The idiom is used to criticize unnecessary duplication that adds complexity without value.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the preface of Yan Zhitui's 'Yanshi Jiaxun' (Family Instructions of Master Yan), written during the Northern Qi dynasty. Yan Zhitui observed that since the Wei and Jin dynasties, the philosophical works produced by various scholars were repetitive in reasoning and redundant in content, with each author merely imitating the previous ones. He compared this trend to building a roof beneath an existing roof or placing a bed on top of a bed—pointless duplication that adds nothing new.
💡 Example Usage
写文章应力求简明扼要，切忌叠床架屋，否则读者不得要领。
In writing, one should strive for conciseness and avoid unnecessary redundancy, otherwise readers will fail to grasp the main point.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 叠床架屋
- Pinyin: dié chuáng jià wū
- Literal Translation: stack, bed, build, house
- Category: Clarity
- Characters: 4