贯朽粟腐 — “Describes extreme wealth and abundance”

贯朽粟腐 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “describes extreme wealth and abundance”. Where possessions like money and grain are so plentiful they exceed storage capacity and begin to decay. Literally, “Strings of coins rot, grain spoils”.

Frequency

贯朽粟腐 Pronunciation and Pinyin

贯朽粟腐 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
贯	guàn	8	pierce, connect, or link
朽	xiǔ	6	decay, rot, perish
粟	sù	12	millet grain
腐	fǔ	14	decay, rot, or spoil

Example Sentence with 贯朽粟腐

这家公司多年来利润丰厚，仓库里堆满了商品，真是贯朽粟腐

For years, this company has enjoyed immense profits; its warehouses are overflowing with goods, truly a case of 'strings of coins rotting and grain spoiling'.

Origin and Story of 贯朽粟腐

During the early Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Liu Bang implemented various policies to revive the economy, leading to a rapid advancement in agricultural production. The subsequent emperors, Wen and Jing, continued this established national policy.

As a result, the national treasury became so full that coins piled up like mountains, and the strings used to thread them together eventually rotted away. Countless amounts of grain accumulated in the granaries, so much so that the warehouses could not contain it all. The surplus had to be stored outdoors, leading to much of the grain spoiling and becoming inedible.