📖 Meaning
Describes a situation where all resources and options have been completely depleted, leaving a person with no way forward. It conveys the sense of being at an impasse or dead end with no escape. Often used in the context of desperate circumstances where hope seems lost.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom comes from a famous poem by the Northern Song dynasty poet Lu You (陆游), titled 'Visit to Shanxi Village' (游山西村). The full couplet reads '山重水复疑无路，柳暗花明又一村' — meaning amid confusing, dead-end mountains and rivers, one suddenly discovers another village beyond the dark willows and bright blossoms. The phrase 山穷水尽 was later extracted to describe the desperate moment before a sudden turn for the better.
💡 Example Usage
资金链断裂后，公司已到了山穷水尽的地步，随时可能宣布破产。
After the funding chain broke, the company reached the end of its rope and could declare bankruptcy at any moment.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 山穷水尽
- Pinyin: shān qióng shuǐ jìn
- Literal Translation: mountain exhausted, water finished
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4