📖 Meaning
It indicates that a piece of writing is of extremely high value. The idiom praises literary works so excellent that people are willing to pay a handsome sum of gold to obtain them. It is used to commend outstanding prose or poetry.
📜 Origin Story
According to the preface to the Han-dynasty rhapsody 'Changmen Fu' by Sima Xiangru, Empress Chen, consort of Emperor Wu of Han, fell out of favor due to jealousy and was confined to Changmen Palace in sorrow. Hearing that Sima Xiangru of Chengdu was the finest writer under heaven, she presented him with a hundred catties of gold — for him and his wife Zhuo Wenjun to buy wine — and asked him to compose a piece to dispel her grief and move the emperor. Sima Xiangru wrote the 'Changmen Rhapsody,' which stirred Emperor Wu, and Empress Chen regained his favor. Henceforth 'weighing gold to buy a rhapsody' became a byword for the priceless worth of fine writing.
💡 Example Usage
这篇赋文辞绝妙，堪称量金买赋之作。
This rhapsody is so exquisitely worded that it could truly be called a work worthy of weighing out gold to purchase.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 量金买赋
- Pinyin: liàng jīn mǎi fù
- Literal Translation: weigh gold, buy rhapsody
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4