📖 Meaning
This idiom means to follow the will of heaven and thereby receive heaven's help. It describes a turn of fortune in which, once a wrong is righted and a worthy person is recognized, what was cast down rises again. Figuratively it refers to things recovering or succeeding thanks to favorable conditions or divine aid.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the chapter 'The Metal-Bound Coffer' (金縢) of the Book of Documents (尚书), set in the early Western Zhou dynasty. After King Wu of Zhou died, his young son King Cheng ascended the throne and the Duke of Zhou (Ji Dan) served as regent, but slanderers spread rumors that he meant to usurp the throne, and the king grew estranged from him. One autumn, just as a bountiful harvest was about to be reaped, a great storm of thunder, lightning, and wind flattened all the standing grain. The frightened king went out into the countryside, opened the metal-bound coffer, and found the prayer the Duke had earlier written offering his own life to save King Wu — unmistakable proof of his loyalty. Repentant, the king welcomed the Duke back, whereupon it rained, the wind reversed, and the fallen grain all stood up again; thus the idiom came to mean following heaven's will and winning heaven's help.
💡 Example Usage
市场回暖，企业业绩如风禾尽起，全面复苏。
As the market warms up, business performance is recovering across the board, like grain rising again in the wind.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 风禾尽起
- Pinyin: fēng hé jìn qǐ
- Literal Translation: wind, grain, all rise
- Category: Recovery
- Characters: 4