📖 Meaning
Literally meaning that at the end of a musical piece, an elegant and refined melody is played. It is used metaphorically to describe a piece of writing, performance, or event that has a particularly brilliant or outstanding conclusion. It can also imply that the outcome or ending turns out to be excellent.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Biography of Sima Xiangru in the Book of Han (汉书), written by Ban Gu of the Eastern Han dynasty. The scholar Yang Xiong criticized the extravagant and ornate fu poetry of Sima Xiangru, comparing it to the sensuous music of the states of Zheng and Wei, noting that such works only offer moral admonition at the very end—like playing an elegant tune only when the song is already over. Yang Xiong questioned whether this was not merely a jest, since the lavish earlier content overwhelmed the brief moral conclusion.
💡 Example Usage
这部小说前半部分平淡无奇，结尾却曲终奏雅，令人回味无穷。
The first half of the novel was unremarkable, yet the ending was brilliant and elegant, leaving a lasting impression.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 曲终奏雅
- Pinyin: qǔ zhōng zòu yǎ
- Literal Translation: tune, ends, play, elegant
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4