📖 Meaning
Refers to exchanging one's children to eat and splitting bones of the dead to use as fuel for cooking—a practice born of extreme famine and siege. It vividly depicts the horrific suffering caused by natural disasters and war, where desperation drives people to the most dreadful extremes of survival.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Han dynasty scholar Ying Shao's work Fengsu Tong (风俗通), in the chapter on the Five Hegemons (皇霸·五伯). The full phrase reads '易子析骸，厥祸亦巨' — exchanging children and splitting bones, the disaster was indeed immense. It describes the catastrophic suffering endured during times of prolonged siege and famine in ancient China, when starving populations would trade their own children with neighbors to eat (to avoid consuming one's own flesh and blood) and break apart bones of the dead to burn as fuel for cooking fires. The image captures the ultimate depths of human desperation under the crushing weight of war and catastrophe.
💡 Example Usage
围城之中粮尽，百姓易子析骸，惨不忍睹。
With the city besieged and food exhausted, the people resorted to exchanging children for food and splitting bones for fuel—a sight too horrifying to witness.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 易子析骸
- Pinyin: yì zǐ xī hái
- Literal Translation: exchange, children, split, bones
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4