📖 Meaning
Zhong refers to ancient musical bells and ding to ancient cooking cauldrons. The idiom depicts nobles dining with bells struck and cauldrons arrayed before them. It describes the lavish, ostentatious lifestyle of the aristocracy.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from Sima Qian's 'Records of the Grand Historian' (Shiji), specifically the 'Biographies of Money-Makers' (Huozhi Liezhuan) written during the Western Han dynasty. Sima Qian recounts how people with even humble trades—such as a knife-sharpener named Zhi and a horse doctor named Zhang Li—amassed great wealth through diligence and lived in extravagant luxury. Zhang Li was said to strike bells and dine with cauldrons, a privilege normally reserved for nobility. The passage illustrates how commerce and skill could elevate commoners to aristocratic levels of opulence.
💡 Example Usage
古时贵族击钟陈鼎，尽显奢华排场。
In ancient times, nobles struck bells and arrayed cauldrons, displaying the height of lavish extravagance.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 击钟陈鼎
- Pinyin: jī zhōng chén dǐng
- Literal Translation: strike bell, display cauldron
- Category: Status
- Characters: 4