Chinese idiom · 成语
门庭若市
Meaning
A courtyard like a marketplace; extremely busy and popular.
Character by character
Origin and story
Political anecdoteZhanguo Ce (戰國策), Qi Ce I (齊策一), tells how Zou Ji realizes that the praise of his looks from his wife, concubine, and visitor reflects affection, fear, and self-interest. He uses the experience to warn King Wei of Qi that a ruler is even more shielded from honest criticism.
The king offers rewards to people who point out his faults. At first, so many ministers come to advise him that the entrance and courtyard resemble a marketplace. The expression describes the royal court. In the narrative, visitors later become fewer because matters improve; today the idiom simply means a place receives many callers.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
这家书店周末举办签售会，门庭若市，连门口都排起了长队。
The bookshop’s weekend signing attracted crowds, with a long queue even outside.
Describes many visitors or customers, not necessarily general street traffic.