📖 Meaning
Describes a person who is so greedy that they would even cheat their own family out of money. The idiom paints a picture of someone whose heart is blackened by avarice, devouring even the resources of those closest to them. It is a sharp condemnation of extreme selfishness and shameless money-grubbing.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no documented classical source in ancient texts. It likely emerged from northern Chinese vernacular, where 食亲 suggests 'preying on one's own kin' and 财黑 means 'black-hearted over wealth.' The phrase captures a folk condemnation of those who betray familial bonds for material gain. It is primarily preserved in dialect dictionaries such as the 汉语方言大词典 as a colloquial expression rather than a literary idiom.
💡 Example Usage
那个人食亲财黑，连父母的养老钱都要骗走。
That person is so greedily unscrupulous that he would even swindle his own parents' retirement savings.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 食亲财黑
- Pinyin: shí qīn cái hēi
- Literal Translation: eat, relatives, wealth, black
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4