铜驼荆棘 — “Describes a scene of desolation and ruin”

铜驼荆棘 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “describes a scene of desolation and ruin”. Often implying a once prosperous and magnificent place has been devastated, abandoned, and left to decay, like an imperial palace gate marked by a brass camel now overgrown with thorns. Literally, “Brass camel and thorns”.

Frequency

铜驼荆棘 Pronunciation and Pinyin

铜驼荆棘 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
铜	tóng	11	Copper metal
驼	tuó	8	camel; hunched back
荆	jīng	9	thorny shrub, humble apology
棘	jí	12	thorn, thorny, difficult

Example Sentence with 铜驼荆棘

曾经繁华的街区，在经历了一场大火后，如今只剩下断壁残垣，真是一片铜驼荆棘的景象。

The once bustling district, after a major fire, now only has broken walls and ruins, truly a scene of desolation and decay.

Origin and Story of 铜驼荆棘

During the Western Jin Dynasty, Suo Jing, a scholar with profound knowledge from long years of studying classics and history, was appointed as Fuma Duwei.

Under Emperor Wu of Jin, he was promoted to Shangshu Lang and then to Governor of Jiuquan. Later, under Emperor Hui of Jin, he was granted the title of Guan Nei Hou. Suo Jing possessed great foresight and predicted that the times would become unstable, and great turmoil would sweep across the land.

Upon seeing the brass camel standing by the palace gate in Luoyang, he sighed with emotion and said, "Oh, brass camel, in the future, you will lie amidst thorns."