📖 Meaning
Describes a person with an unyielding, iron-willed disposition. The idiom likens one's heart and gut to forged iron, suggesting a temperament so resolute that it is unmoved by emotion, pity, or persuasion. It is often used to emphasize someone's stoic or unfeeling resolve in the face of tragedy.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom first appears in the Song Dynasty anonymous play "错立身" (Cuò Lì Shēn), where a character in Act 8 laments being separated from old friends, declaring that even one with an iron-forged heart would shed tears at the sight of no familiar faces on the horizon. It later surfaces in the Ming Dynasty playwright Xu Lin's classic "绣襦记" (Xiù Rú Jì), specifically in the chapter "责善则离," where a father is admonished that even his iron-cast heart would grieve if he witnessed his son's suffering. The idiom thus carries a literary pedigree spanning both Song and Ming dynasty drama.
💡 Example Usage
面对如此惨状，纵是铁打心肠的人也难忍泪水。
Faced with such a tragic scene, even a person with an iron-forged heart could hardly hold back their tears.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 铁打心肠
- Pinyin: tiě dǎ xīn cháng
- Literal Translation: iron, forged, heart, intestines
- Category: Determination
- Characters: 4