📖 Meaning
Literally describes a fur coat worn threadbare and all one's gold spent. It is used metaphorically to depict a situation of extreme financial hardship and depleted resources, often after prolonged unsuccessful effort.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the 'Zhanguoce' (Strategies of the Warring States), in the chapter 'Qi Ce 1' compiled during the Han dynasty. It recounts the story of the lobbyist Su Qin during the Warring States period, who submitted ten memorials to the King of Qin trying to persuade him, yet failed to gain any acceptance. Over time, his black mink coat grew threadbare and his hundred catties of gold were completely spent, leaving him impoverished and forced to return home in disgrace. The phrase later came to symbolize the plight of being stranded and destitute after fruitless endeavor.
💡 Example Usage
他经商失败，如今裘弊金尽，连回家的路费都凑不出来。
After his business failed, he is now utterly destitute — coat threadbare and money gone — unable to scrape together even the fare to return home.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 裘弊金尽
- Pinyin: qiú bì jīn jìn
- Literal Translation: fur coat, worn out, gold, exhausted
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4