📖 Meaning
Looking up at the roof and sighing privately. It describes a situation where one is in deep distress with no way out, feeling helpless and resigned to circumstances. The phrase conveys silent frustration when one has no power to change things.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the 'Zizhi Tongjian' (Comprehensive Mirror to Aid Government), a Song dynasty historical chronicle compiled by Sima Guang. In the fourteenth year of Yongping during Emperor Ming's reign of the Eastern Han dynasty, many officials knew that people were being wrongly accused but dared not speak out to contradict the emperor. Upon returning home, though they said nothing aloud, they would look up at the ceiling and sigh privately, fully aware of the injustice yet powerless to intervene. The phrase thus captures the silent helplessness of those who see wrong but cannot act.
💡 Example Usage
面对朝廷腐败，他只能仰屋窃叹，无力回天。
Facing the corruption of the court, he could only look up at the roof and sigh, powerless to turn the tide.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 仰屋窃叹
- Pinyin: yǎng wū qiè tàn
- Literal Translation: look up, roof, secretly, sigh
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4