"Han Niu Chong Dong" (sweating oxen and books filling the house) is a vivid and expressive Chinese idiom. Its literal meaning is "oxen sweat from hauling books, and books fill the house," and it is used to describe an extremely large collection of books or writings. It originates from Liu Zongyuan's "Collected Works of Liu Hedong: Epitaph for Mr. Lu Wentong, Former Attendant Reader to the Crown Prince and Supervising Secretary of the Tang Dynasty," which states, "As for his books, when kept at home they fill the house, and when transported abroad they make oxen and horses sweat," meaning that these books, when stored at home, filled the rooms, and when moved out, caused oxen and horses to sweat from exhaustion. This idiom is usually used to describe someone who has a rich collection of books, or a huge quantity of a certain kind of books or documents. It is often used in contexts describing libraries, scholars' studies, cultural institutions, or someone's academic accumulation. It carries a commendatory or neutral tone, emphasizing the great quantity, and sometimes also implies admiration for profound knowledge. In terms of cultural background, it reflects the ancient value placed on books and the difficulty of collecting them, because ancient books were mostly bamboo slips or handwritten copies, bulky and heavy, and hard to transport and store. In modern times, it is mostly used to describe a huge amount of books, materials, or information.
📝 Example
1. This old professor devoted his entire life to academic research. His study is piled high with books, leaving almost no room to set foot. (Describing an extremely large collection of books)
2. The research literature on this topic is overwhelmingly vast, making it nearly impossible to read it all. (Describing an enormous quantity of documents and materials)