梦熟黄粱 — “An illusory dream of prosperity or success”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 梦熟黄粱?

黄粱：粟米。比喻美好的愿望如同梦幻一样

梦熟黄粱 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “an illusory dream of prosperity or success”. A transient delusion of grandeur, often implying that such hopes are fleeting and unrealistic. Literally, “Dream of ripened yellow millet”.

Frequency

梦熟黄粱 Pronunciation and Pinyin

梦熟黄粱 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
梦	mèng	11	dream
熟	shú	15	ripe, cooked, skilled, familiar
黄	huáng	11	yellow color
粱	liáng	13	fine grain, sorghum, millet

Example Sentence with 梦熟黄粱

他一直梦想着一夜暴富，但没想到那只是一个梦熟黄粱，最终还是得脚踏实地工作。

He always dreamed of getting rich overnight, but he didn't realize it was just a fleeting yellow millet dream, and ultimately he still had to work hard and be practical.

Origin and Story of 梦熟黄粱

Once upon a time, there was an impoverished scholar named Lu Sheng. In an inn in Handan, he met a Taoist priest named Lü Weng.

Lü Weng gave him a pillow. At that moment, the innkeeper was starting to cook yellow millet rice.

Lu Sheng took a short nap, and in his dream, he passed the imperial examination, became a prime minister, married a beautiful wife, had many children and grandchildren, and lived a life of complete happiness.

When he woke up, the innkeeper's yellow millet rice was not even cooked yet.