Chinese idiom · 成语
望梅止渴
Meaning
To quench thirst by imagining plums; to console oneself with false hopes.
Character by character
Origin and story
Traditional anecdoteShishuo Xinyu (世說新語), in Jia Jue (假譎), recounts Cao Cao leading troops who cannot find water and are desperately thirsty. He tells them that a grove ahead is full of sweet-and-sour plums. Hearing this makes their mouths water, and the troops use that brief encouragement to reach a water source.
The short anecdote does not identify a particular campaign or describe soldiers actually seeing or eating plums. Its point is the effect of imagined relief before practical relief arrives. The later idiom usually means consoling oneself with an imagined possibility that does not itself satisfy the need.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
暂时没钱去旅行，我只好看看海边的照片，望梅止渴。
I can’t afford a trip right now, so I make do with looking at seaside photos.
Often gently self-mocking: imaginary satisfaction substitutes for something unavailable.