📖 Meaning
To vanish into nothing; to be reduced to naught. Describes hopes, possessions, or efforts that are completely wiped out or come to nothing, leaving no trace behind.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from 'Zixu Fu' (子虚赋), a rhapsody by Sima Xiangru of the Western Han Dynasty. In the story, a Chu envoy named Zixu boasts to the King of Qi about the grandeur of Chu's hunting grounds. After the hunt, Zixu visits two fictional characters: Master Wuyou (乌有先生, literally 'Master Nothing') and Lord Wangshi (亡是公, literally 'Lord Nowhere'). The name 'Wuyou' itself means 'non-existent' or 'nothing,' and over time the phrase '化为乌有' evolved from this literary allusion to describe anything that disappears completely.
💡 Example Usage
一场大火把他的全部积蓄化为乌有。
A great fire reduced all his savings to nothing.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 化为乌有
- Pinyin: huà wéi wū yǒu
- Literal Translation: transform, into, nothing, exist
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4