📖 Meaning
A pearl the size of a grain of rice. It is used metaphorically to describe something tiny, weak, and of little consequence. The phrase often appears in a dismissive tone to belittle an opponent's power, talent, or influence.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Ming dynasty vernacular novel 'Investiture of the Gods' (封神演义) by Xu Zhonglin, specifically Chapter 53. In the passage, a boastful character belittles his opponents, declaring that their rice-grain-sized pearls can emit little light and their flies' wings can flutter only briefly before falling. The imagery draws on the contrast between something supposedly precious or powerful (a pearl, flight) and its diminutive, feeble reality.
💡 Example Usage
你的这点本事不过是米粒之珠，怎能与我相提并论？
Your meager skills are but a grain-sized pearl—how could you even be mentioned in the same breath as me?
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 米粒之珠
- Pinyin: mǐ lì zhī zhū
- Literal Translation: rice, grain, of, pearl
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4