📖 Meaning
To mine copper from mountains to mint coins and boil seawater to extract salt. It is a metaphor for skillfully developing and exploiting natural resources to create great wealth.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Records of the Grand Historian (史记), specifically the Biography of Liu Pi, the Prince of Wu (吴王濞). During the Han Dynasty, the Wu principality possessed copper mines at Yuzhang Commandery. Prince Pi recruited fugitives from across the realm to illegally mint coins from the copper and to boil seawater for salt production. This gave Wu enormous economic power and wealth. Later writers used the phrase to describe the strategic exploitation of natural resources.
💡 Example Usage
古之豪杰，常以铸山煮海之术充盈国库。
Throughout history, great leaders have used the strategy of exploiting mountains and seas to fill the national treasury.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 铸山煮海
- Pinyin: zhù shān zhǔ hǎi
- Literal Translation: cast mountains, boil seas
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4