米珠薪桂 — “Describes a situation where basic necessities”

米珠薪桂 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “describes a situation where basic necessities”. Such as rice and firewood, are extremely expensive, indicating a difficult livelihood for people. Literally, “rice like pearls, firewood like cassia”.

Frequency

米珠薪桂 Pronunciation and Pinyin

米珠薪桂 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
米	mǐ	6	rice or meter
珠	zhū	10	Pearl or bead
薪	xīn	16	Firewood for passing on tradition
桂	guì	10	osmanthus or Guangxi

Example Sentence with 米珠薪桂

最近粮食价格上涨，让许多家庭的生活成本变得米珠薪桂，不得不精打细算。

Recently, rising food prices have made the cost of living like rice is pearls and firewood is cassia for many families, forcing them to budget carefully.

Origin and Story of 米珠薪桂

During the Warring States period, Su Qin, a skilled debater and diplomat, traveled extensively to persuade rulers with his political strategies.

When he arrived in the State of Chu to meet the King, the palace gatekeeper tried to extort a bribe from him. After Su Qin refused, the gatekeeper deliberately made things difficult for him, forcing him to stay for three days and selling him essential goods at exorbitant prices.

When King Chu finally met Su Qin, they had a very productive conversation. Su Qin then commented that in Chu, rice was as expensive as pearls, and firewood as costly as cassia, metaphorically describing the extremely high cost of living.