📖 Meaning
A metaphor for the overwhelming and corrupting power of money. It suggests that wealth, like golden radiance blanketing the earth, can obscure justice, buy influence, and bend morality to its will.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from Pu Songling's 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio' (聊斋志异), written during the Qing Dynasty, specifically in the story 'Xi Fangping' (席方平). The original passage reads: '金光盖地，因使阎摩殿上尽是阴霾；铜臭熏天，遂教枉死城中全无日月' — describing how the golden light of bribery covered the earth, darkening even King Yama's judgment hall. The commentator He Yin (何垠) noted that the phrase '金光盖地' derives from Buddhist scriptures but is used here as a metaphor for the supernatural power of the money god. The story itself is a searing satire of judicial corruption in feudal China.
💡 Example Usage
他以为金光盖地便能摆平一切，却不知公道自在人心。
He thought that the power of money could smooth over everything, but he did not realize that justice ultimately resides in people's hearts.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 金光盖地
- Pinyin: jīn guāng gài dì
- Literal Translation: gold, light, cover, earth
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4