📖 Meaning
Literally holding millet in hand to go out and perform divination. It later came to mean praying to the gods for protection, seeking to ward off misfortune and invite good fortune. The phrase reflects an ancient practice of using grain as an offering when consulting oracles about uncertain outcomes.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the poem 'Xiao Wan' (小宛) in the Minor Odes (小雅) section of the Classic of Poetry (诗经), a collection compiled during the Western Zhou dynasty. The original line reads, 'Holding millet to divine—how can this bring prosperity?' The Eastern Han scholar Zheng Xuan annotated it as, 'Merely holding millet to perform divination, seeking to know the outcome of success or failure.' The poem expresses a lament that even consulting the gods cannot truly guarantee good fortune.
💡 Example Usage
古人遇事不决时常握粟出卜以问吉凶。
In ancient times, when people faced indecision, they would often hold millet to divine and inquire about good and ill fortune.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 握粟出卜
- Pinyin: wò sù chū bo
- Literal Translation: hold, millet, go out, divine
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4