纸醉金迷

Pronunciation: zhǐ zuì jīn mí Literal meaning: Paper drunk gold confused

Origin & Usage

A Song collection tells of the physician Meng Fu, who fitted out a small room at home with gilded furnishings and paper so bright it dazzled; a guest who dozed there said afterwards that resting in it left a man gold-dazed and paper-drunk — 此室暂憩，令人金迷纸醉. The gold (金) and the papered walls (纸) are literal in the anecdote, and the pair of verbs — dazed (迷), drunk (醉) — became a byword for luxury that disorients. Nightlife districts and wealth arranged to be looked at, always with disapproval attached.

Examples

English: "The young heirs lived in luxury, oblivious to the real world's hardships"

Chinese: 这些年轻的继承人生活在奢华中，对现实世界的艰辛毫无察觉