📖 Meaning
Literally means beating drums and striking gongs, creating a loud and noisy commotion. Figuratively, it describes making a great fuss or exaggerating something to draw attention, as if announcing with deafening sound.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from a Yuan dynasty qu (曲) poem by Du Renjie titled 'Shua Er: A Country Bumpkin Doesn't Recognize the Theater' (《刷儿·庄家不识构阑》). The poem depicts a country farmer visiting a city theater for the first time, bewildered by the bustling scene where women sit on a platform and drums and gongs are beaten incessantly, unlike any village religious festival he knows. The vivid imagery of relentless drumming and gong-striking gave rise to the idiom describing loud noise and commotion.
💡 Example Usage
他每次输了棋就擂鼓筛锣地嚷嚷，整个院子都不得安宁。
Every time he loses a chess game, he makes a huge racket and carries on so loudly that the whole courtyard cannot have a moment of peace.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 擂鼓筛锣
- Pinyin: léi gǔ shāi luó
- Literal Translation: beat drums, strike gongs
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4