📖 Meaning
Literally meaning 'birth hair not yet dry,' this idiom refers to infancy or earliest childhood. It is used to describe the time when someone was a young child, emphasizing how early or young they were.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the 'Book of Song' (宋书·索虏传), a history of the Liu Song dynasty. The Northern Wei emperor Tuoba Tao (拓跋焘) became furious and told an envoy: 'Even when my birth hair was not yet dry, I had already heard that the lands south of the Yellow River belonged to my family.' The vivid image of a newborn whose hair has not yet dried emphasizes that the knowledge dated back to his earliest infancy.
💡 Example Usage
他自生发未燥之时便随父征战沙场。
He had followed his father into battle since he was a mere infant with birth hair still wet.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 生发未燥
- Pinyin: shēng fà wèi zào
- Literal Translation: born, hair, not yet, dry
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4