数米而炊 — “Count rice grains to cook”
数米而炊 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be meticulously frugal to the point of stinginess, often due to extreme poverty or a habit of calculating every tiny expense; to count every grain of rice before cooking, symbolizing extreme poverty or excessive parsimony”. Literally, “Count rice grains to cook”.
数米而炊 Pronunciation and Pinyin
数米而炊 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 数米而炊
Origin and Story of 数米而炊
During the Tang Dynasty, the famous poet Wei Zhuang, though from a humble background, maintained an extremely frugal lifestyle even after gaining fame.
He would often count out rice grains before cooking and weigh firewood before burning it.
This level of extreme thriftiness was often ridiculed by others, sometimes seen as bordering on the contemptible.
Idioms Related to 数米而炊
Synonyms of 数米而炊
More idioms starting with 数
- shǔ数yī一shǔ数èr二one of the best
- shǔ数bù不shèng胜shǔ数too many to count
- shù数dōng东guā瓜，，dào道qié茄zi子ramble on about trivial things
- shǔ数jiǔ九hán寒tiān天the coldest days of winter
- shù数yǐ以wàn万jì计numbering in the tens of thousands
- shǔ数diǎn典wàng忘zǔ祖forget one's heritage
- shù数qí奇bù不ǒu偶plagued by misfortune
- shù数qí奇mìng命jiǎn蹇ill-fated and unlucky
- shǔ数wǎng往zhī知lái来Analyze past to predict future
- shǔ数bái白lùn论huáng黄to haggle over every penny
- shǔ数duǎn短lùn论cháng长criticize others' faults and shortcomings
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Open the tool →Questions about 数米而炊
What does 数米而炊 mean?
数米而炊 (shǔ mǐ ér chuī) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be meticulously frugal to the point of stinginess, often due to extreme poverty or a habit of calculating every tiny expense; to count every grain of rice before cooking, symbolizing extreme poverty or excessive parsimony”.
How do you pronounce 数米而炊?
数米而炊 is pronounced shǔ mǐ ér chuī in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 数米而炊 literally mean?
Literally, 数米而炊 means “Count rice grains to cook”. It is used to mean “to be meticulously frugal to the point of stinginess, often due to extreme poverty or a habit of calculating every tiny expense; to count every grain of rice before cooking, symbolizing extreme poverty or excessive parsimony”.
Where does 数米而炊 come from?
数米而炊 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 数米而炊?
炊：烧火做饭。数着米粒做饭。比喻计较小利。也形容生活困难。