Chinese idiom · 成语
病入膏肓
Meaning
Illness reaches the vitals; a hopeless or incurable situation.
Character by character
Origin and story
Historical narrative with a dreamZuo Zhuan (左傳), Duke Cheng’s tenth year, describes the seriously ill Duke Jing of Jin asking Qin for a physician. Before the doctor Huan arrives, the duke dreams of his illness as two children. Afraid of the skilled doctor, they plan to hide in a deeply placed region described with the terms 膏 and 肓, beyond treatment’s reach.
Huan’s examination echoes the dream: neither medicines nor the available procedures can reach the condition. The duke acknowledges his skill and sends him home with generous gifts. The story supplies the image of an illness too deeply established to cure; figuratively, the idiom describes a situation judged beyond repair. Its ancient anatomy and dream are part of the narrative, not modern diagnostic guidance.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
别说这套系统已经病入膏肓，我们还没查清故障原因呢。
Do not declare this system beyond saving yet—we have not even found the cause of the fault.
A strong metaphor for an apparently hopeless condition; avoid casually pronouncing it about someone’s health.