📖 Meaning
Wearing a coarse fur garment and carrying firewood on one's back, describing a reclusive scholar of noble character and incorruptible integrity who lives in voluntary poverty. The idiom conveys the image of a hermit who remains virtuous and untainted despite material hardship.
📜 Origin Story
From the Eastern Han dynasty text 'Lunheng' (论衡) by Wang Chong, in the chapter 'Shuxu' (书虚). The story tells of a woodcutter who wore a fur garment even in the sweltering heat of the fifth month while gathering firewood. When someone pointed out a piece of lost gold on the road and asked him to pick it up, he angrily refused, declaring that a man who wears fur in summer and chops wood for a living could not possibly be someone who takes gold. The anecdote became a lasting symbol of uncorrupted integrity and reclusive virtue.
💡 Example Usage
古之隐者披裘负薪，不为五斗米折腰。
The recluses of ancient times wore fur coats and carried firewood, refusing to bow for a meager salary.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 披裘负薪
- Pinyin: pī qiú fù xīn
- Literal Translation: wear, fur coat, carry on back, firewood
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4