📖 Meaning
A metaphor for abundant wealth and grain reserves. The image depicts money stored so long that the strings holding the coins have rotted away, and grain aged until it turned red—both signs of overflowing treasuries and granaries. It is equivalent to the variant 贯朽粟陈.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Ming dynasty play 'Yùn Pì Jì' (运甓记, The Story of Carrying Bricks) by playwright Wú Qiūruì, in the chapter 'Sū Jùn Champions Rebellion' (苏峻倡乱). The line describes a prosperous era with well-equipped armies, rotting coin strings, aged grain, and contented citizens singing the praises of their officials. The imagery of decaying coin strings and stored grain traces back to the Hàn dynasty 'Records of the Grand Historian' (史记), which described the immense wealth accumulated during the reigns of Emperors Wén and Jǐng.
💡 Example Usage
太平盛世国库充盈，贯朽粟红，百姓安居乐业。
In this prosperous and peaceful era, the national treasury overflows to the point of rotting coin strings and aged grain, and the people live in contentment.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 贯朽粟红
- Pinyin: guàn xiǔ sù hóng
- Literal Translation: coin string rotten, grain red
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4