📖 Meaning
Literally describes floodwaters overflowing their banks and spreading without restraint. Metaphorically, it depicts chaos, disorder, or wicked influences running rampant throughout society, with no authority able to rein them in.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Mencius (《孟子·滕文公上》), where Mencius describes the age of the legendary Emperor Yao. At that time the world was not yet pacified, and the great floodwaters burst their channels and spread across the land. The passage recounts how Yao passed the throne to Shun, and Shun in turn commissioned Yu the Great (大禹) to tame the floods—a feat Yu accomplished through tireless labor over many years, eventually restoring order to the realm.
💡 Example Usage
每当乱世洪水横流之际，总有仁人志士挺身而出，力挽狂澜。
Whenever chaos spreads like floodwaters running rampant through a fallen age, men of conscience rise to turn the tide.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 洪水横流
- Pinyin: hóng shuǐ héng liú
- Literal Translation: flood, water, crosswise, flow
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4