江郎才尽
- Literal
- young Jiang, talent exhausted
- Figurative
- For someone of proven talent to have run dry; said of writers and artists, and often jokingly of oneself.
Where does 江郎才尽 come from?
Jiang Yan was a writer of the Southern dynasties who shone in his youth for his poetry and prose but lost that force in later life. The 《南史》 records the explanation that went around in his day: one night he dreamed of a man who said he was Guo Pu, a celebrated writer of the Jin dynasty, and who asked for the brush he had left with him many years before; Jiang Yan drew a five-colored brush from the folds of his robe and gave it back, and from then on his poems no longer came out right. People said his talent had run out. Today the phrase is used of anyone whose inspiration has dried up.
Source (出处): 《南史·江淹传》
How is 江郎才尽 used? Two examples
- 这个歌手早年写了好多金曲，这几年的新歌让人觉得他江郎才尽了。
This singer wrote a string of hits early on, but his songs from the last few years make it seem he has run dry.
- 写了三年公众号，我感觉自己快江郎才尽了，不知道还能写什么。
After three years of writing my WeChat blog, I feel like I'm running out of ideas; I don't know what else to write about.
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