📖 Meaning
To eat without having two dishes at a meal. It describes a lifestyle of frugality and simple living, where one does not indulge in lavish food.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from 'Han Feizi · Wai Chu Shuo Zuo Xia', which states 'eat not two flavors, sit not on double mats.' The 'Records of the Grand Historian' (Shiji) further records that King Goujian of Yue ate without repeating dishes and wore clothes without double layers of fabric, mourning the dead and inquiring after the sick, as he prepared to rally his people for revenge against Wu.
💡 Example Usage
他一生清贫，食不重味，却把积蓄都捐给了学校。
He lived a life of simplicity, eating only simple meals, yet donated all his savings to a school.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 食不重味
- Pinyin: shí bù chóng wèi
- Literal Translation: eat, not, repeat, flavor
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4