📖 Meaning
Cluttered and chaotic, lacking any clear organization or system. It describes a state where things are jumbled together in a messy, unstructured way with no logical arrangement.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase derives from a line by the Tang dynasty scholar Han Yu in his preface 'Sending Off Meng Dongye' (送孟东野序), where he wrote that certain speech is 'mixed and disorderly without pattern' (杂乱而无章). Later writers adapted the expression, with the Qing dynasty historian Zhang Xuecheng using '杂乱而无序' in his work 'General Principles of Literature and History' to criticize how later generations' writings and records had become disorganized compared to earlier times.
💡 Example Usage
仓库里的货物堆放得杂乱无序，找了半天才翻出需要的零件。
The goods in the warehouse were piled up in complete disorder, and it took ages to find the parts we needed.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 杂乱无序
- Pinyin: zá luàn wú xù
- Literal Translation: mixed, disorderly, without, order
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4