Chinese idiom · 成语
纸醉金迷
Meaning
Drunk on paper, lost in gold; decadent indulgence.
Character by character
Origin and story
Historical anecdoteThe source is an anecdote in Qing Yi Lu, the collection attributed to the Song writer Tao Gu. Meng Fu, a physician who had served at Emperor Zhaozong's Tang court, later lived in Shu. Familiar with palace interiors, he arranged a small room with bright windows and objects covered in gold paper. Reflected light filled the room with dazzling gold.
An acquaintance reportedly said that resting there left a person bewildered by gold and intoxicated by paper. The anecdote uses the order 金迷纸醉. The more familiar reversed form came to describe luxurious, pleasure-seeking excess. This is a transmitted anecdote about glittering furnishings, not an origin in paper money or Qing-dynasty banking.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
他厌倦了纸醉金迷的应酬，周末只想回家陪孩子做饭。
Tired of extravagant, pleasure-filled socializing, he just wants to go home on weekends and cook with his children.
Usually disapproving: indulgence in extravagant luxury, rather than simply having a comfortable life.