📖 Meaning
Rotten wood and cold ashes left after a fire goes out. It is a metaphor for a state of extreme depression and apathy, where one is completely indifferent and unresponsive to anything. The phrase describes a heart so lifeless that no emotion or motivation remains.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Daoist text Zhuangzi, specifically the chapter 'On the Equality of Things' (齐物论), written during the Warring States period by Zhuang Zhou. In the text, Zhuangzi describes a meditative state in which the body becomes like withered wood and the mind like dead ashes, signifying complete detachment from worldly concerns. Over time, the expression took on a more negative connotation, describing not spiritual serenity but a loss of all hope and feeling. It is now used to depict someone sunk in despair and utterly indifferent to life.
💡 Example Usage
遭受打击后，他如朽木死灰般对一切失去了兴趣。
After the blow, he became like rotten wood and dead ashes, losing all interest in everything.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 朽木死灰
- Pinyin: xiǔ mù sǐ huī
- Literal Translation: rotten wood, dead ashes
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4