门前冷落鞍马稀

門前冷落鞍馬稀

ménqiánlěngluòānmǎxī

phrase

Meanings

1 before the gate, it is desolate; saddled horses are few
2 few callers come to the door anymore
3 (lit.) front of the gate is cold and fallen, saddles and horses sparse

Characters

fall / desolate

Examples

他退休后，门前冷落鞍马稀，早已没有当年的热闹。

Tā tuìxiū hòu, ménqián lěngluò ānmǎ xī, zǎo yǐ méiyǒu dāngnián de rènao.

After he retired, callers grew few and the door stood quiet — long gone was the bustle of former days.

一朝失势，门前冷落鞍马稀，世态炎凉尽在其中。

Yī zhāo shī shì, ménqián lěngluò ānmǎ xī, shìtài yánliáng jìn zài qízhōng.

Once out of power, the door falls silent and the horses vanish — the fickleness of the world, all in one line.

Tips

history

From Bai Juyi's (白居易) Tang-dynasty 《琵琶行》 (Song of the Pipa). The once-famous courtesan narrates her decline: 『门前冷落鞍马稀，老大嫁作商人妇』— 'the gate grew cold, the horses few; grown old, I married a merchant.' 鞍马 ('saddle-horses') is metonymy for the well-off visitors who once crowded her door.

usage

Standard image for sudden loss of status or popularity — when the fair-weather friends disappear. The idiom 门可罗雀 ('you could net sparrows at the door') means the same thing, more concisely.

Stroke Order

门 mén

前 qián

冷 lěng

落 luò

鞍 ān

马 mǎ

稀 xī