📖 Meaning
The water and mountains have both come to an end. It metaphorically describes a situation where one has run out of options and is trapped in a desperate predicament with no way forward.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom traces back to the Northern Zhou dynasty, appearing in the 'Stele Inscription for Yuwen Chang's Spirit Way' (《宇文常神道碑》) written by the renowned literatus Yu Xin (庾信). The original text reads '山穷水断, 马束桥飞' (mountains end, waters break; horses are reined in, bridges fly away), evoking the image of an army reaching impassable terrain. The formulation later stabilized into the four-character idiom 水尽山穷, and was notably used in Liu E's late Qing novel 'The Travels of Lao Can' (《老残游记》).
💡 Example Usage
到了水尽山穷的地步，他才明白当初的决定有多荒唐。
Only when he reached a dead end did he realize how absurd his original decision had been.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 水尽山穷
- Pinyin: shuǐ jìn shān qióng
- Literal Translation: water exhausted, mountain exhausted
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4