📖 Meaning
This idiom describes a family whose financial situation is moderately comfortable. It indicates that a household has enough resources to live without hardship, though not necessarily wealthy.
📜 Origin Story
The term combines '家道' (family circumstances) with '小康' (moderate prosperity), a concept rooted in classical Chinese texts such as the Book of Rites, where '小康' referred to a society of modest well-being after the decline of the legendary golden age. Over time, the phrase came to describe individual families enjoying a stable, decent standard of living. No single literary source is credited as the definitive origin of this four-character idiom.
💡 Example Usage
他靠多年辛苦劳作，如今也算家道小康了。
Through years of hard work, his family has now reached a modest level of prosperity.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 家道小康
- Pinyin: jiā dào xiǎo kāng
- Literal Translation: family, way, small, prosperity
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4