📖 Meaning
Describes something of immeasurably great age or antiquity. The imagery of mountains withering and stones dying conveys the passage of vast stretches of time. It is used to emphasize just how long something has endured or existed.
📜 Origin Story
No specific literary source is recorded for this idiom. It draws on the imagery of nature's most enduring elements—mountains and stones—reaching their end to convey an almost unimaginable span of time. The phrase likely emerged from folk or literary tradition emphasizing extreme antiquity. No particular dynasty or historical figure is associated with its origin.
💡 Example Usage
这座古塔历经山枯石死，至今仍屹立不倒。
This ancient pagoda has stood unwavering through ages so vast that mountains have withered and stones have died.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 山枯石死
- Pinyin: shān kū shí sǐ
- Literal Translation: mountains wither, stones die
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4