Chinese idiom · 成语
满腹经纶
Meaning
Rich in learning and practical intellectual ability; 经纶 originally evokes arranging silk threads, then planning and governing.
Character by character
Origin and story
Classical metaphorJinglun originally evokes sorting and arranging silk threads, and by extension planning and governing. The Image commentary to the Yijing's Zhun hexagram uses the term for the ordering work of an exemplary person. It does not contain the full phrase 滿腹經綸.
A Song poem by Hong Yan speaks of a belly containing jinglun, while Lang Ying's Ming miscellany records the exact idiom in a witty parallel line about a spider: its silk suggests both thread-work and intellectual accomplishment. This layered image explains why the idiom is not literally a stomach full of classics. It praises extensive knowledge and the ability to put that understanding to use.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
陈老师满腹经纶，谈历史时总能把复杂的问题讲清楚。
Teacher Chen is deeply learned and always makes complex historical questions clear.
Praises rich learning and intellectual ability; 经纶 is not simply the classics.