📖 Meaning
This idiom describes a vast region where no cooking smoke rises from any household, indicating that the people have completely run out of food and can no longer prepare meals. It portrays scenes of extreme famine or war-torn devastation where entire areas are abandoned and desolate. The phrase powerfully conveys the suffering and desolation of displaced or starving populations across a great expanse of land.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom draws from imagery common in ancient Chinese historical records describing the aftermath of wars, famines, or natural disasters. When regions were laid waste, villages stood abandoned and no cooking fires could be seen across great distances, signaling that the population had either fled or perished. Such descriptions recur in various chronicles documenting periods of social upheaval and mass devastation. While no single canonical source is definitively attributed to this exact phrase, it reflects the recurring historical reality of vast territories rendered lifeless by conflict or starvation.
💡 Example Usage
连年征战之后，这片土地千里无烟，田地荒芜。
After years of incessant warfare, the land lay desolate for a thousand li, with fields left uncultivated and no cooking smoke rising anywhere.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 千里无烟
- Pinyin: qiān lǐ wú yān
- Literal Translation: thousand, li, without, smoke
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4