📖 Meaning
This idiom describes the desolate and ruined state of a nation's territory after it has fallen to invaders. It evokes the image of once-grand bronze camel statues now overgrown with wild grass, symbolizing the collapse of civilization. It is equivalent to the idiom 铜驼荆棘 (bronze camels among thorns).
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the story of Suo Jing (索靖), a scholar-official of the Western Jin dynasty (265–316 CE). Foreseeing the chaos that would devastate the dynasty, Suo Jing pointed to the bronze camel statues standing before the palace gates in Luoyang and lamented that they would soon be buried in weeds and thorns. His prophecy proved tragically accurate when Xiongnu forces sacked Luoyang in 311 CE during the Upheaval of Yongjia (永嘉之乱), reducing the capital to ruins. The image of bronze camels swallowed by wilderness thus became a lasting metaphor for national ruin and the desolation of once-great places.
💡 Example Usage
故都沦陷之后，昔日繁华尽化铜驼草莽，令人唏嘘不已。
After the old capital fell, its former glory was reduced to a desolate wasteland of overgrown weeds, leaving people to sigh in sorrow.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 铜驼草莽
- Pinyin: tóng tuó cǎo mǎng
- Literal Translation: bronze, camel, grass, wilderness
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4