📖 Meaning
Describes being angry to the extreme, as if flames were shooting up three zhang high. The idiom uses the vivid metaphor of blazing fire surging upward to convey the overwhelming intensity of one's rage. It is commonly used to depict a sudden and explosive burst of fury.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase appears in Tao Juyin's 'Chronicles of the Six Gentlemen of the Chou'an Society' (筹安会六君子传), a work documenting the political figures behind the Yuan Shikai-era restoration movement. It recounts how the renowned Qing dynasty scholar and revolutionary Zhang Taiyan (章太炎) had painstakingly built up the newspaper Min Bao (民报) over many years. When the paper was restored after a suspension, he was unexpectedly shut out and excluded, which left him seething with uncontrollable rage. The idiom has since become a vivid expression for extreme anger in modern Chinese.
💡 Example Usage
儿子又把花瓶打碎了，气得她火冒三丈。
Her son broke the vase again, making her furious beyond words.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 火冒三丈
- Pinyin: huǒ mào sān zhàng
- Literal Translation: fire, rises, three, zhang (unit of ~3.3 meters)
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4