付诸洪乔 — “To lose entrusted letters or documents”

付诸洪乔 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to lose entrusted letters or documents”. Often implying they were deliberately discarded by the person entrusted with them. Literally, “Consigned to Hong Qiao”.

Frequency

付诸洪乔 Pronunciation and Pinyin

付诸洪乔 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
付	fù	5	to pay or hand over
诸	zhū	10	all, various, many
洪	hóng	9	Vast flood
乔	qiáo	6	tall, elevated, or disguised

Example Sentence with 付诸洪乔

这份重要的文件，千万不能付诸洪乔，否则后果不堪设想。

This important document must not be consigned to Hong Qiao (i.e., lost or discarded), otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.

Origin and Story of 付诸洪乔

During the Jin Dynasty, there was a prefect of Yuzhang named Yin Xian, whose courtesy name was Hong Qiao. When he was about to leave his post, many people, knowing he was returning to the capital, entrusted him with letters to be delivered to their families and friends in his hometown. At that time, there was no organized postal service, so people relied on acquaintances to carry their mail.

Hong Qiao politely accepted over a hundred letters. However, upon reaching Shitou Isle during his journey, he threw all the letters into the river.

When people subsequently did not receive their letters, they often associated the loss with Hong Qiao, realizing he must have discarded them. This incident gave rise to the idiom "fu zhu Hong Qiao," meaning to lose or discard entrusted letters.