Chinese idiom · 成语
探囊取物
Meaning
To take from a bag; something easily obtained.
Character by character
Origin and story
Historical anecdoteThe New History of the Five Dynasties (新五代史), volume 62, recalls a farewell between Han Xizai and Li Gu. Han is going south to Wu, while Li remains in the north. Over wine, Han says that if the southern court makes him chief minister, he will advance into the Central Plain. Li replies that if the northern court employs him as chief minister, taking the south will be like reaching into a bag for something.
The history later contrasts Li’s role in the Zhou campaign against Huainan with Han’s inability to counter it. The idiom condenses Li’s confident comparison. Later novels also use it for feats presented as effortless, but its meaning requires neither a real bag nor an actual theft.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
这道入门题对她来说如探囊取物，几分钟就解出来了。
For her, this beginner problem was as easy as reaching into a bag; she solved it in minutes.
Literary emphasis on extreme ease; often introduced by 如 or 犹如.