路有冻死骨

路有凍死骨

lù yǒu dòng sǐ gǔ

quotation

Meanings

1 along the road lie the frozen bones of the dead
2 stark image of mass suffering amid elite luxury
3 social injustice at its starkest

Characters

to have / there are

Examples

HSK 7-9

他引用“朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨”来批评贫富悬殊。

Tā yǐnyòng " zhū mén jiǔ ròu chòu, lù yǒu dòng sǐ gǔ " lái pīpíng pínfù xuánshū.

He quoted 'behind vermilion gates wine and meat go foul; by the roadside lie the frozen dead' to criticize the gulf between rich and poor.

HSK 7-9

战乱年代，路有冻死骨的惨状屡见不鲜。

Zhànluàn niándài, lù yǒu dòng sǐ gǔ de cǎnzhuàng lǚjiànbùxiān.

In years of war, the sight of the frozen dead by the roadside was tragically common.

Tips

history

Second line of a famous couplet from Du Fu's (Tang dynasty) 《自京赴奉先县咏怀五百字》: 朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨 - 'Behind vermilion gates, wine and meat go rotten; by the roadside lie the bones of those frozen to death.' One of the most cited indictments of inequality in Chinese literature.

usage

Almost never quoted alone - pair with its twin 朱门酒肉臭 to get the full rhetorical punch. The two lines together are political shorthand for any situation of extreme wealth alongside extreme misery.

Stroke Order

路 lù

有 yǒu

冻 dòng

死 sǐ

骨 gǔ