CHENGYU
黄粱一梦(huáng liáng yī mèng)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- literary
- Source:
- 唐·沈既济《枕中记》
MEANING
- Literal
- a dream that lasts one pot of millet
- Figurative meaning
- the emptiness of worldly success; a fleeting illusion
ORIGIN STORY
In the Tang tale "The World Inside a Pillow", a young man dozed off while a pot of millet cooked and dreamed a lifetime of wealth, honor and ruin. Waking, he found the millet was not yet done — his whole career had been one dream.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“a pipe dream”
EXAMPLES
他追求了一辈子的名利，回头一看都是黄粱一梦。Tā zhuīqiú le yíbèizi de mínglì, huítóu yí kàn dōu shì huáng liáng yī mèng.HSK6
A lifetime of chasing fame and fortune — looking back, it was all one pot of millet.
破产后他才明白，富贵不过是黄粱一梦。Pòchǎn hòu tā cái míngbai, fùguì bùguò shì huáng liáng yī mèng.HSK6
Only after bankruptcy did he see that wealth was just a dream within a millet pot.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: Note the reading: 粱 is liáng (millet), not 梁 (beam). Near-synonym of 南柯一梦.
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01