📖 Meaning
Describes rain falling in torrents, a heavy and unrelenting downpour. The phrase vividly conveys rain coming down in sheets, as if the sky has opened up. It is used to characterize an extremely heavy rainstorm.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Book of Songs (诗经), specifically the Minor Odes (小雅) in the poem '渐渐之石' (Jiàn Jiàn Zhī Shí). The line reads '月离于毕，俾滂沱矣,' meaning 'when the moon passes through the Bi lunar mansion, it brings torrential rain.' In ancient Chinese astronomy, 毕 (Bi) was one of the twenty-eight lunar mansions, and its association with the moon was believed to foretell heavy rainfall. Over time, the expression evolved into the four-character idiom 滂沱大雨 to describe any fierce downpour.
💡 Example Usage
突然天降滂沱大雨，路上的行人都急着寻找避雨的地方。
Suddenly a torrential rain poured down, and the pedestrians on the street all hurried to find shelter.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 滂沱大雨
- Pinyin: páng tuó dà yǔ
- Literal Translation: torrential, heavy, rain
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4