CHENGYU
黔驴技穷(qián lǘ jì qióng)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- literary
- Source:
- 唐·柳宗元《三戒·黔之驴》
MEANING
- Literal
- the donkey of Qian has used up its tricks
- Figurative meaning
- to have exhausted one's limited tricks
ORIGIN STORY
In Liu Zongyuan's fable, a tiger first feared the strange donkey of Guizhou. After the donkey brayed and kicked a few times, the tiger saw through it — those were its only tricks — and ate it.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“to run out of tricks”
EXAMPLES
他只会那几招，很快就黔驴技穷了。Tā zhǐ huì nà jǐ zhāo, hěn kuài jiù qián lǘ jì qióng le.HSK6
He only had those few moves, and soon his tricks ran out.
骗子黔驴技穷，最后被警察识破。Piànzi qián lǘ jì qióng, zuìhòu bèi jǐngchá shípò.HSK6
The swindler ran out of tricks and was finally exposed by the police.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: It mocks limited ability exposed — 黔 is Guizhou, not "poor".
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01