📖 Meaning
The term '海错' (hǎi cuò) refers to the great variety of seafood. Together the idiom describes precious delicacies gathered from both the mountains and the sea. It is used to indicate a lavish and sumptuous spread of dishes at a feast.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from a poem by the Tang dynasty poet Wei Yingwu (韦应物), titled 'Song of the Chang'an Road' (《长安道诗》). The lines read: '山珍海错弃藩篱，烹犊羊羔如折葵' — mountain delicacies and seafood were discarded along the fences, and cooking calves and lambs was as easy as plucking mallows. The poem satirized the extravagant lifestyle of the wealthy and powerful in the capital, where the rarest foods were treated as worthless. The word '错' here carries the sense of 'various and mixed,' originally denoting the diversity of marine products.
💡 Example Usage
这场国宴上山珍海错，令宾客们大饱口福。
At this state banquet, delicacies from the mountains and the sea left the guests fully satisfied.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 山珍海错
- Pinyin: shān zhēn hǎi cuò
- Literal Translation: mountain, delicacy, sea, variety
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4