📖 Meaning
Wind carries the stench of blood and rain falls tinged with crimson. It describes a terrifying atmosphere of brutal massacre, violent conflict, or a blood-soaked environment where savage killing runs rampant.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from Chapter 23 of 'Water Margin' (《水浒传》), one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, written by Shi Nai'an during the Ming Dynasty. The original line reads '腥风血雨满松林，散乱毛发坠山奄,' depicting a pine forest filled with the stench of blood and scattered hair — a scene of horrific slaughter. The phrase was later inverted to '血雨腥风' and became a fixed idiom used to evoke an atmosphere of extreme violence and carnage. It was notably employed by Marshal Chen Yi in his revolutionary poem 'Three Chapters from Meiling' (《梅岭三章》) to describe the brutal struggle of the Chinese revolution.
💡 Example Usage
战场上血雨腥风，令人不寒而栗。
The battlefield was filled with bloodshed and carnage, sending chills down one's spine.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 血雨腥风
- Pinyin: xuè yǔ xīng fēng
- Literal Translation: blood, rain, fishy, wind
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4