📖 Meaning
This idiom describes friendships that cannot be maintained permanently, where close friends eventually become enemies. It highlights how relationships that begin warmly can deteriorate into hatred and violence by the end. The phrase serves as a cautionary observation that lifelong friendships are rare.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Book of Later Han (后汉书), in the biography of Wang Dan during the Eastern Han dynasty. Wang Dan cited two historical pairs: Zhang Er and Chen Yu, who were inseparable friends during the late Qin period but ultimately turned on each other with murderous intent; and Xiao Yu and Zhu Bo of the Western Han, sworn brothers whose bond ended in bitter enmity. Wang Dan used these examples to lament that friendships preserved fully to the end are exceedingly rare.
💡 Example Usage
他们曾经是至交好友，最终却凶终隙末，令人惋惜。
They were once the closest of friends, but in the end their friendship turned to enmity—a tragic outcome.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 凶终隙末
- Pinyin: xiōng zhōng xì mò
- Literal Translation: violence at the end, rift at the end
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4