桂薪玉粒 — “Exorbitant prices for daily necessities”

桂薪玉粒 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Exorbitant prices for daily necessities”. Indicating a very high cost of living. Literally, “Cassia firewood and jade rice”.

Frequency

桂薪玉粒 Pronunciation and Pinyin

桂薪玉粒 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
桂	guì	10	osmanthus or Guangxi
薪	xīn	16	Firewood for passing on tradition
玉	yù	5	jade, precious, beautiful
粒	lì	11	grain, particle, pellet

Example Sentence with 桂薪玉粒

在那个大城市，生活成本极高，真是桂薪玉粒，让人感到压力很大。

In that large city, the cost of living is extremely high; it's truly a situation of exorbitant prices for daily necessities, making people feel a lot of pressure.

Origin and Story of 桂薪玉粒

During the Warring States period, Su Qin, a master of diplomatic strategy, was renowned for his eloquence and traveled extensively to persuade various rulers.

When he sought an audience with the King of Chu, the palace gatekeeper, unable to extort a bribe from him, deliberately caused trouble. The gatekeeper forced Su Qin to wait for three days and sold him daily necessities at outrageously high prices.

Eventually, Su Qin met the King of Chu, and their conversation was very fruitful. During their discussion, Su Qin ironically described the situation in Chu, saying that the rice was as precious as jade grains and the firewood was as expensive as cassia wood, vividly depicting the exorbitant cost of living he had experienced.