Idiom Explanation:
Jiang Lang has run out of talent, it is a metaphor for a person’s diminished talent or exhaustion of skills.
Pronunciation:
江郎才尽
jiāng láng cái jìn
Origin:
南朝·梁·钟嵘《诗品·齐光禄江淹》：“初，淹罢宣城郡，遂宿冶亭，梦一美丈夫，自称郭璞，谓淹曰：‘我有笔在卿处多年矣，可以见还。’淹探怀中，得五色笔以授之。尔后为诗，不复成语，故世传江郎才尽。”
Story:
There was a famous genius named Jiang Yan in the Southern Liang Dynasty. He wrote many wonderful prose and poems, and was known as “Jiang Lang the genius”.
Jiang Yan was a native of Kao Cheng, Jiyang (now Lankao County, Henan Province) and lived with his mother since he was a child. Although his family was poor, Jiang Yan was able to write well in his youth with his own efforts. Later, Jiang Yan’s reputation spread to Liu Jing Su, the king of Jianping in the Southern Song Dynasty. Liu Jing Su admired Jiang Yan’s talent and wrote a letter to him, hoping that he could be his colleague. Jiang Yan went to visit Liu Jing Su, and they had a very good conversation. Soon afterwards, he promoted Jiang Yan to be an official of South Yanzhou. However, a county magistrate named Guo Yanwen committed a crime and falsely accused Jiang Yan of accepting bribes from him to get rid of the crime.
Jiang Yan thought that he was innocent, so he wrote a long letter to Liu Jing Su in prison, in which he expressed his grievances. After reading this letter, Liu Jing Su immediately sent someone to release Jiang Yan from prison. After he was released from prison, Jiang Yan won the first prize in South Xuzhou, and from then on, his fame became even greater.
Later, when Xiao Daocheng destroyed Song and established Qi, he asked Jiang Yan to be a historian, specializing in writing history. Once, an ancient tomb was excavated in Xiangyang, and a jade mirror and some bamboo slips were unearthed. The bamboo slips were inscribed with ancient characters that no one could understand, so people showed them to Jiang Yan, who recognized that they were written during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou. From then on, the fame of Jiang Yan spread widely. After Xiao Yan established the Liang Dynasty, he made Jiang Yan a senior advisor to the emperor and was later made the Marquis of Liling and given a fief.
After Jiang Yan became a big official, he lived a life of pampering and was not willing to write articles anymore. The first time I read the book, I was able to write a little something, but people felt very tedious after reading it. Therefore, people are very sorry to say: “Jiang Lang has run out of talent”.
Similar Idioms:
- 黔驴技穷
