📖 Meaning
To ruin one's family and squander its fortune, leading to the decline of a household. It describes a situation where someone's actions cause the complete loss of family property and the downfall of the family's enterprise. The phrase conveys the severity of financial ruin brought about by reckless or harmful behavior.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Qing dynasty novel 'Dream of the Red Chamber' (红楼梦) by Cao Xueqin, specifically Chapter 48. In the story, a character remarks that over a minor matter, someone was driven to the point of ruining their family and losing their livelihood, which was not considered a display of true ability. The phrase captures the devastating consequence of causing a household's wealth and enterprise to collapse through unjust or destructive actions.
💡 Example Usage
他沉迷赌博，短短几年便坑家败业，连祖宅都抵了出去。
Addicted to gambling, he ruined his family's fortune in just a few years, even mortgaging the ancestral home.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 坑家败业
- Pinyin: kēng jiā bài yè
- Literal Translation: pit, family, ruin, enterprise
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4