📖 Meaning
Describes weapons that are broken and damaged, particularly axes and other bladed implements of war. The idiom conveys a state of military equipment being worn out or rendered useless after prolonged combat, often implying the exhaustion and hardship of soldiers.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the poem 'Broken Axes' (破斧) in the 'Odes of Bin' (豳风) section of the Classic of Poetry (诗经), the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry dating to the Western Zhou dynasty. The poem laments the hardships of soldiers who, after following the Duke of Zhou on a three-year eastern campaign to quell a rebellion, returned home with their axes broken and their qiang-axes damaged. The imagery of shattered weapons became a metaphor for the toll of prolonged warfare on both equipment and morale.
💡 Example Usage
连年征战，斧破斨缺，士兵们早已疲惫不堪。
After years of continuous warfare, with axes broken and weapons damaged, the soldiers were already utterly exhausted.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 斧破斨缺
- Pinyin: fǔ pò qiāng quē
- Literal Translation: axe, broken, qiang-axe, damaged
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4