朱门酒肉臭

朱門酒肉臭

zhūménjiǔròuchòu

phrase

Meanings

1 behind vermilion gates, wine and meat go rotten
2 the wealthy let food spoil while the poor starve
3 emblem of social inequality

Characters

vermilion / crimson

stinking / rotten

Examples

杜甫笔下朱门酒肉臭的场景，至今仍有现实意义。

Dù Fǔ bǐxià zhū mén jiǔ ròu chòu de chǎngjǐng, zhìjīn réng yǒu xiànshí yìyì.

Du Fu's scene of 'behind vermilion gates, wine and meat go rotten' still rings true today.

他用朱门酒肉臭来讽刺富豪的奢侈。

Tā yòng zhū mén jiǔ ròu chòu lái fěngcì fùháo de shēchǐ.

He used 'behind vermilion gates, wine and meat go rotten' to mock the extravagance of the rich.

Tips

history

First line of the famous couplet in Du Fu's (杜甫, Tang dynasty) 《自京赴奉先县咏怀五百字》: 朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨 — 'behind vermilion gates, wine and meat go rotten; by the roadside lie the bones of the frozen dead.' Written in the winter of 755, just as the An Lushan Rebellion broke out.

usage

朱门 ('vermilion gate') was the signature red-lacquered gate of aristocratic households — a visual shorthand for wealth. Almost always quoted alongside its twin line 路有冻死骨.

Stroke Order

朱 zhū

门 mén

酒 jiǔ

肉 ròu

臭 chòu