📖 Meaning
This idiom describes a state of being completely physically exhausted, where one's muscles are tired and strength is depleted. It is equivalent to the more common expression 筋疲力尽. The phrase emphasizes the bodily fatigue that comes from sustained exertion.
📜 Origin Story
The expression appears in the writings of Lu Xun (鲁迅), a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. In his essay collection 花边文学 (Border Literature), specifically the piece titled 安贫乐道法法 (On Finding Contentment in Poverty), Lu Xun describes factory workers in Shanghai laboring at least ten hours a day. He notes that by late evening these workers would be 筋疲力倦, and that workplace injuries tended to occur precisely at that hour of exhaustion. The essay reflects Lu Xun's social commentary on the harsh conditions of the urban working class in early twentieth-century China.
💡 Example Usage
连续赶了三天工，他早已筋疲力倦，一靠上椅子便沉沉睡去。
After working nonstop for three days, he was already exhausted to the bone and fell fast asleep the moment he leaned back in his chair.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 筋疲力倦
- Pinyin: jīn pí lì juàn
- Literal Translation: muscles, tired, strength, exhausted
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4