📖 Meaning
Life is like a dream, and the gains and losses of wealth and honor are transient and illusory. The idiom warns against clinging to worldly glory, since power and riches ultimately prove as fleeting as a dream.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase derives from the Tang dynasty tale 《南柯太守传》 (The Governor of Nanke) by Li Gongzuo. It tells of Chunyu Fen, who drank wine beneath an old locust tree and fell into a dream in which he saw a city gate inscribed 'Great Huai'an Kingdom.' The king made him a son-in-law and appointed him governor of Nanke Prefecture, where he enjoyed thirty years of wealth and honor. Upon waking, he found a large ant nest under the tree, with a smaller nest on its southern branch, which corresponded to the Huai'an Kingdom and Nanke Prefecture of his dream.
💡 Example Usage
回首往事，荣华富贵不过是槐南一梦。
Looking back on the past, wealth and honor were nothing but a fleeting dream.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 槐南一梦
- Pinyin: huái nán yī mēng
- Literal Translation: locust tree, south, one, dream
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4