📖 Meaning
A stone sinking to the bottom of the sea. It is used metaphorically to describe a message, letter, or inquiry that disappears without any response or news. The idiom conveys a complete and enduring silence following an action that should have produced a reply.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from Wang Shifu's Yuan Dynasty drama 'Romance of the Western Chamber' (《西厢记》), specifically Book Four, Act One, where the line reads 'If he does not come, it is like a stone sinking into the sea.' The imagery evokes a heavy stone dropped into the ocean, vanishing without a trace beneath the waves. Later classical works such as Li Ruzhen's Qing Dynasty novel 'Flowers in the Mirror' (《镜花缘》) reused the phrase to describe fruitless searches. Over centuries it has become a standard metaphor for unanswered letters and lost contact.
💡 Example Usage
信件寄出后如石沉大海，至今没有半点回音。
After the letter was sent, it was like a stone dropped into the sea — to this day there has not been the slightest reply.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 石沉大海
- Pinyin: shí chén dà hǎi
- Literal Translation: stone, sink, big, sea
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4