光彩耀目 — “Dazzling and brilliant”

光彩耀目 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Dazzling and brilliant”. Splendid and eye-catching. Literally, “Luster dazzling to the eye”.

Frequency

光彩耀目 Pronunciation and Pinyin

光彩耀目 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
光	guāng	6	light, honor, bare, smooth, gone
彩	cǎi	11	color; prize; injury
耀	yào	20	shine, dazzle, or show off
目	mù	5	eye, item, or goal

Example Sentence with 光彩耀目

节日庆典上的烟花表演光彩耀目，点亮了整个夜空。

The fireworks display at the festival celebration was dazzling and brilliant, lighting up the entire night sky.

Origin and Story of 光彩耀目

During the Western Jin Dynasty, Shi Chong, the governor of Jingzhou, amassed immense wealth through various means, including robbing merchants. He was later transferred to the capital as a palace guard, where he lived an extremely extravagant life. Wang Kai, Emperor Wu of Jin's uncle, was also known for his lavish spending and constantly sought to compete with Shi Chong in terms of wealth.

One day, Wang Kai acquired a magnificent coral tree that was dazzling and brilliant to behold. Feeling very proud, he took it to Shi Chong's residence to display his prized possession.

Shi Chong merely glanced at it, then brought out six or seven even larger and more splendid coral trees, offering them to Wang Kai. Utterly outdone by the overwhelming display of wealth and splendor, Wang Kai sighed, admitting his defeat and inability to compare.