📖 Meaning
Literally 'stirring up waves without wind.' It is a variant of the more common idiom 无风起浪, meaning to create trouble or provoke incidents out of thin air with no justifiable cause. It describes someone who fabricates conflicts or stirs up disputes where none existed.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom is a variant of the better-known phrase 无风起浪 (making waves without wind), which has circulated in vernacular Chinese literature since the Ming dynasty. Unlike its counterpart, 无风扬波 does not trace back to a single specific classical text and is recorded without a named source in major idiom dictionaries. It carries the same metaphorical meaning, drawing on the image of waves rising on a windless sea to illustrate trouble arising without provocation. Over time it has been used in literary and colloquial contexts alike to criticize those who instigate disputes.
💡 Example Usage
他总是无风扬波，在同事之间制造不必要的矛盾。
He is always stirring up trouble, creating unnecessary conflicts among his colleagues.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 无风扬波
- Pinyin: wú fēng yáng bō
- Literal Translation: no wind, toss up, waves
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4