📖 Meaning
Describes moving about aimlessly without a fixed destination, rushing and bumping in all directions. It conveys a sense of blundering through a place with no clear sense of direction or purpose. Equivalent to the idiom 东奔西撞.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the novel 《隋唐演义》(Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties), Chapter 26. In the story, a character enters the city to investigate but does not know where the charitable gentleman surnamed Zhang lives. He wanders aimlessly through the streets, bumping about here and there, while overhearing street gossip about how much silver various families had donated. The phrase thus arose from the image of someone blundering about a city with no clear destination.
💡 Example Usage
他初到此地，东穿西撞了大半天才找到那家小店。
New to the area, he blundered about for most of the day before finally finding that little shop.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 东穿西撞
- Pinyin: dōng chuān xī zhuàng
- Literal Translation: east, pierce through, west, crash
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4