📖 Meaning
To raise the shoulders and hunch the back, describing a stooped, unhealthy posture. It typically depicts someone who is aging, frail, or in poor physical condition.
📜 Origin Story
This phrase originates from Chapter 51 of 'Dream of the Red Chamber' (红楼梦) by Cao Xueqin of the Qing Dynasty. In the passage, a character wearing only a few old fur garments appears even more pitifully hunched and shriveled. The description vividly conveys the character's frailty and wretched condition through the image of raised shoulders and a curved back.
💡 Example Usage
这位老人拱肩缩背地走在寒风中，显得格外憔悴。
The old man walked hunched over in the cold wind, looking especially haggard.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 拱肩缩背
- Pinyin: gǒng jān suō bèi
- Literal Translation: arched shoulders, shrunk back
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4