📖 Meaning
A metaphor for having limited desires and being content with little. Just as a wren needs only one branch to nest on and a mouse drinks only enough to fill its belly, one's needs in life are modest. It conveys the Daoist ideal of simple contentment.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom derives from the Warring States period text 《庄子·逍遥游》by the Daoist philosopher Zhuang Zhou. The original passage states that the wren (鹪鹩) nests in a deep forest yet uses only a single branch, and the mole (偃鼠) drinks from a river yet only fills its belly. Zhuangzi used these images to argue that one's true needs are naturally limited and that seeking more is unnecessary. Over time, the two images were condensed into the four-character idiom 鼷腹鹪枝.
💡 Example Usage
鼷腹鹪枝，吾人所求本不为多，何必营营于名利之间。
My desires are like a mouse's belly and a wren's branch—I ask for little, so why fuss over fame and fortune?
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 鼷腹鹪枝
- Pinyin: xī fù jiāo zhī
- Literal Translation: field mouse's belly, wren's branch
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4