📖 Meaning
Refers to attaining high official rank and great wealth. It describes the worldly success of holding government office and becoming rich. The phrase is often used to denote the pursuit or possession of fame, power, and fortune.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase appears in the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai's work '江上吟' (Song on the River), where he writes that if fame and fortune could last forever, even the Han River would flow northwest—implying such things are transient. The Ming dynasty writer Hong Yingming also cited it in '菜根谭' (Tending the Roots of Wisdom), advising that viewing fame and fortune from the perspective of their inevitable decline diminishes one's attachment to them. The idiom thus carries both literal and philosophical connotations about worldly success.
💡 Example Usage
他一生追逐功名富贵，到头来不过是一场空。
He spent his whole life pursuing fame and fortune, only to find it all amounted to nothing in the end.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 功名富贵
- Pinyin: gōng míng fù guì
- Literal Translation: merit, fame, wealth, honor
- Category: Status
- Characters: 4