📖 Meaning
A fine steed forced to pull a salt cart. It describes a person of great talent and ability who is trapped in humble circumstances, their gifts unrecognized and their potential wasted. The image is of a magnificent warhorse reduced to drudging labor far beneath its worth.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the 'Zhanguo Ce' (Strategies of the Warring States), compiled by Liu Xiang of the Western Han dynasty, in the chapter 'Chu Ce, Part Four.' The text recounts how a thousand-li steed (骥), having reached its full age of prime, was made to pull a salt-laden cart up the Taihang Mountains—a grueling task utterly unworthy of its nature. A passerby recognized the horse's extraordinary quality, wept at its plight, and removed its harness. The story became a metaphor for unrecognized talent suffering under adverse conditions, later condensed into the four-character idiom.
💡 Example Usage
他空有一身才学却久居下位，宛如骥伏盐车，令人惋惜。
Despite his great learning, he has long been relegated to a lowly position—like a fine steed condemned to pull a salt cart, which is truly regrettable.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 骥伏盐车
- Pinyin: jì fú yán chē
- Literal Translation: steed, under, salt, cart
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4