📖 Meaning
Literally, to breathe warmth onto withered things so they revive and to blow onto living things so they wither. Metaphorically, it describes the power of words—capable of both praising to elevate and criticizing to ruin. The idiom highlights how eloquent speech can make or break a person's reputation.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the 'Book of the Later Han' (《后汉书·郑太传》), in the biography of Zheng Tai. Kong Gongxu (孔公绪) was described as a man of lofty, refined discourse who could 'breathe life into the withered and wither the living' through his words—yet possessed no genuine military talent or ability to bear arms in battle. The phrase was used to contrast his rhetorical brilliance with his lack of practical martial competence, showing that eloquence alone cannot win wars.
💡 Example Usage
他善于嘘枯吹生，笔下褒贬分明，令文坛众人折服。
He excels at both praising and criticizing, his pen bestowing and destroying reputations with equal ease, earning the awe of the entire literary world.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 嘘枯吹生
- Pinyin: xū kū chuī shēng
- Literal Translation: breathe on the withered, blow on the living
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4