📖 Meaning
To fight against frost and brave the snow. It describes someone who dares to struggle in harsh conditions and remains unyielding and indomitable. The idiom evokes the imagery of plants that endure bitter winter weather without wilting.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no single authoritative classical source but draws on a long tradition in Chinese poetry and prose of using frost- and snow-defying plants—especially pine trees and plum blossoms—as symbols of moral resilience. Writers from the Tang and Song dynasties frequently praised such flora for standing firm through the bitterest winters. Over time the imagery crystallized into the four-character phrase to describe people who withstand hardship with courage.
💡 Example Usage
他凭着斗霜傲雪的精神，在逆境中终于取得了成功。
Relying on his spirit of defying frost and braving snow, he finally achieved success despite the adversity.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 斗霜傲雪
- Pinyin: dòu shuāng ào xuě
- Literal Translation: fight frost, defy snow
- Category: Perseverance
- Characters: 4