📖 Meaning
To burn a qin (zither) as firewood and cook a crane for food. It is a metaphor for ruining or wasting things of beauty and refinement through crude, insensitive behavior.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Song dynasty scholar Hu Zi's 'Tiaoxi Yuyin Conghua', which cites the 'Xiqing Shihua' quoting Li Shangyin's 'Yishan Zazuan'. Li Shangyin listed various acts that 'spoil the scenery' (杀风景), including burning a zither for fuel and boiling a crane to eat it. These examples illustrate destroying elegant, poetic things through vulgar actions. The idiom became a classical way to describe someone with no appreciation for beauty or culture.
💡 Example Usage
在这等雅致之处大声喧哗，简直是烧琴煮鹤，大煞风景。
Making loud noise in such an elegant place is simply burning the zither and boiling the crane—completely ruining the atmosphere.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 烧琴煮鹤
- Pinyin: shāo qín zhǔ hè
- Literal Translation: burn, zither, boil, crane
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4