佛头著粪 — “To desecrate or defile something sacred or beautiful”
佛头著粪 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to desecrate or defile something sacred or beautiful”. To besmirch a venerable object or person. Literally, “To put excrement on a Buddha's head; Feces on Buddha's head”.
佛头著粪 Pronunciation and Pinyin
佛头著粪 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 佛头著粪
Origin and Story of 佛头著粪
During the Tang Dynasty, in the reign of Emperor Muzong, a scholar named Cui Qun visited Dong Temple in Hunan. He noticed birds defecating on the heads of the Buddha statues.
Dismayed, he remarked to the abbot that the birds lacked Buddha-nature and were showing great disrespect to the Buddha.
The abbot calmly responded, 'Birds do possess Buddha-nature. They choose to relieve themselves on the Buddha's head precisely because Buddha-nature is benevolent and tolerant of all beings, never taking offense at external matters. Even these birds understand this profound compassion.'
Idioms Related to 佛头著粪
Synonyms of 佛头著粪
Antonyms of 佛头著粪
More idioms starting with 佛
- fú佛kǒu口shèng圣xīn心kind speech, compassionate heart
- fó佛kǒu口shé蛇xīn心kind words, cruel heart
- fó佛xīn心shé蛇kǒu口kind words, evil heart
- fó佛xìng性chán禅xīn心serene enlightened Buddhist mind
- fú佛zhǐ旨lún纶yīn音A divine or imperial authoritative decree
- fú佛shì是jīn金zhuāng妆，，rén人shì是yī衣zhuāng妆clothes make the man
- fú佛shì是jīn金zhuāng装，，rén人shì是yī衣zhuāng装Appearance matters; clothes make the man
- fó佛yǎn眼fó佛xīn心to see the good in people
- fó佛yǎn眼xiāng相kàn看regard with compassion and benevolence
- fú佛gāo高yī一chǐ尺，，mó魔gāo高yí一zhàng丈Evil grows stronger as good progresses
Recommended tools
Writing Worksheets
Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion
Open the tool →
Bingo Cards
Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →
Chinese Text Image Generator
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →
Character Highlight Animator
Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order
Open the tool →Questions about 佛头著粪
What does 佛头著粪 mean?
佛头著粪 (fó tóu zhuó fèn) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to desecrate or defile something sacred or beautiful”.
How do you pronounce 佛头著粪?
佛头著粪 is pronounced fó tóu zhuó fèn in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 佛头著粪 literally mean?
Literally, 佛头著粪 means “to put excrement on a Buddha's head; Feces on Buddha's head”. It is used to mean “to desecrate or defile something sacred or beautiful”.
Where does 佛头著粪 come from?
佛头著粪 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 佛头著粪?
往佛像的头上拉粪。比喻美好的事物被亵渎、玷污。