📖 Meaning
People stand so close together that their shoulders touch and their feet overlap one another. It describes an extremely crowded place where a great many people are packed tightly together.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom derives from the Song dynasty writer Ouyang Xiu's essay 'Record of the Brocade Hall in Xiangzhou' (《相州昼锦堂记》), written in praise of the statesman Han Qi, whose decorated hall stood in Xiangzhou (present-day Anyang, Henan). In the essay Ouyang describes the townsfolk lining the roads, standing shoulder to shoulder with footprints piled upon footprints, gazing up and sighing in admiration. That vivid crowd scene gave rise to the expression, which came to mean any place thronged with people.
💡 Example Usage
节日的街头骈肩累足，人们挤得无法前行。
On the festival street, people stood shoulder to shoulder, so tightly packed that one could hardly move forward.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 骈肩累足
- Pinyin: pián jiān lěi zú
- Literal Translation: side by side shoulders, overlapping feet
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4