📖 Meaning
Superficial and trivial; fragmented and lacking substance. Used to describe arguments, writings, or discussions that touch on a topic only at the surface level and fail to reach any coherent or meaningful conclusion.
📜 Origin Story
This phrase originates from the Qing dynasty scholar Fang Bao's work 'Afterword on Liu's Writings' (书柳文后). Fang Bao, a leading figure of the Tongcheng School of classical prose, critically evaluated another writer's philosophical discussions. He wrote that the author's remarks touching on the Way (Dao) were 'mostly superficial and fragmented, with no real conclusion to rest upon.' The critique targeted arguments that lacked both depth and coherence, scattering across trivial details without arriving at any substantive insight.
💡 Example Usage
这篇文章论点肤末支离，缺乏有力的论证支撑。
The article's arguments are superficial and fragmented, lacking forceful reasoning to support them.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 肤末支离
- Pinyin: fū mò zhī lí
- Literal Translation: skin, tip, branch, separated
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4